y 

GIFT   OF 

J  «  5 

»      2  z  - 

oj        5  »•  ^ 

S     U.    O    D      . 

2  szh:« 

8  I  n  ^  i 
i  u  ti  u  ^ 

o 
U 


53$ 
** 

<^ 
^    . 

u  a 

^  I 

m 

^  | 

•Z^    t^ 

» 


S 


o 


Cj    -rl  r-l 
^1  r-l    c3 

P     05    O 
T-l     O 

^^>: 

*  o  c; 

-4  r-4 

r-l  >>  CL> 

(I)  4->  .M 

55  -n   JH 

O  CO   O 


o 

• 
^  ' 

• 
i~t 


r\ 


HOW   I    BECAME 
A  SOCIALIST 

AND    OTHER     PAPERS 
BY 

J.  STITT  WILSON 


EDITION 


PUBLISHED     BY    THE    AUTHOR 

BERKELEY.  CALIF. 
SEPTEMBER.     1912 


A     WORD 

The  pamphlets  included  in  this  volume  were  pub- 
lished at  various  times  during  the  last  four  years, 
1908-1912,  while  conducting  Socialist  propaganda  in 
England  and  the  United  States.  They  were  never 
intended  as  a  connected  whole.  Some  of  them  were 
delivered  on  special  occasions,  as  for  instance  the 
"Bible  Argument  for  Socialism,"  to  the  Methodist 
preachers  of  San  Francisco.  "How  I  Became  a 
Socialist"  was  first  printed,  red  hot,  off  my  tongue, 
in  a  little  paper  published  for  campaign  purposes  in 
England.  Before  the  last  copies  are  exhausted,  I 
have  had  three  hundred  sets  bound  for  those  who 
wish  to  preserve  them.  A  new  type  of  propaganda 
material  will  appear  as  the  social  revolution  proceeds. 
This  has  had  its  place,  and  such  of  it  as  may  yet 
prove  useful  may  be  reprinted.  I  count  myself 
happy  to  have  spoken  or  written  anything,  to  have 
had  any  part  however  small,  in  this  great  hour  of 

human  trial  and  triumph. 

J.  STITT  WILSON. 

Berkeley,  California, 

September,  1912. 


How  I   Became  a 


I. 
INTRODUCTORY. 

I  was  born  in  a  Wesleyan  Methodist  home.  Both 
of  my  parents  were  devout  members  of  the  church. 
My  father  was  a  class-leader  and  a  man  of  great 
spiritual  power.  Our  home  was  often  turned  into  a 
place  of  worship  and  prayer,  and  the  beginnings  of 
what  afterwards  became  churches  were  organised  under 
our  roof.  My  mother  was  a  woman  of  great  kindness 
of  heart.  This  was  the  distinguishing  mark  of  her  piety. 
She  was  undemonstrative,  while  my  father  was  one  of 
those  men  in  early  Methodism  who  were  said  to  be 
"  powerful  in  prayer."  They  taught  me  to  read  the 
Bible  before  I  could  pronounce  the  words.  I  recall 
vividly  to  this  day,  the  first  lesson  in  the  Life  of  Jesus. 
It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  first  story  of  Jesus  my 
mother  ever  taught  me  was  how  the  ruling  classes  in 
the  person  of  Herod  sought  to  kill  the  young  child. 
The  New  Testament  was  opened  to  my  young  mind  not 
as  a  book  full  of  strange  and  fantastic  doctrines,  but 
as  containing  the  records  of  the  wonderful  life  of  a  great 
lover  of  men.  The  old  family  Bible  had  a  few  gruesome 
pictures  from  which  I  turned  away  ;  but  the  little 
black-backed  penny  New  Testament  did  not  have 
such  pictures.  One  supreme  picture  was  there — of  one 
who  loved  human  beings.  I  do  not  wish  to  convey  the 
idea  that  I  was  a  "  good  little  boy."  I  was  a  hearty, 
healthy,  robust  lad,  insanely  fond  of  boyish  sport,  and 
often  victim  or  aggressor  in  the  rows  that  were  not  in- 
frequent in  our  school -days. 

3O52O5 


2  MOW   I    BECAME   A   SOCIALIST. 

I  soon  began  to  fight  with  the  under-dog,  however, 
and  at  thirteen  years  of  age  I  crossed  a  dead  line, 
in  an  inward  spiritual  illumination.  At  eighteen  I  was 
preaching  under  the  direction  of  the  Methodists. 
Later  I  entered  Northwestern  University  at  Evanston 
(Chicago)  111.,  U.S.A.,  and  became  also  a  student  in  the 
theological  seminary  at  the  same  place.  I  was  regu- 
larly ordained  as  a  minister  in  the  Methodist  body,  my 
last  appointment  being  in  Chicago. 

It  was  during  this  four  years'  pastorate  in  this  great 
industrial  centre  that  my  heart  and  mind  were 
acutely  directed  to  the  terrible  struggle  of  the  working- 
classes  in  the  Battle  for  Bread.  I  saw  this  struggle 
with  my  eyes.  My  heart  and  mind  were  compelled 
to  the  issue  involved.  These  four  years  were  to  me  a 
school  out  of  which  I  came — a  Socialist.  The  experi- 
ences I  passed  through,  and  the  reflections  that 
eventually  culminated  in  my  Socialist  convictions,  I 
partially  uncover  in  these  pages. 

1.— Three  Forces  in  One. 


Three  forces  in  my  life  converged  into  one.  These 
forces  were  parallel,  and  indeed  like  all  energies  in  our 
human  life,  met,  and  touched,  and  parted,  and  united 
again.  They  were  always  really  one.  But  I  shall  place 
them  before  you  for  clearness  as  three.  Human  life 
is  not  the  broken  thing  we  make  it  by  our  analysis. 
It  is  a  unit,  however  separated  its  aspects  may  appear. 

First,  then,  the  facts  drove  me  to  Socialism.  The 
>  injustices,  misery,  and  wretchedness,  and  the  unequal 
struggle  of  the  workers  against  such  frightful  odds  com- 
pelled me  to  study  the  underlying  causes  of  this  social 
agony — and  I  became  a  Socialist. 

Second.  I  was  a  student  of  economics  and  sociology, 
reading,  observing,  meditating,  and  this  led  me  to 
Socialism.  Socialism  is  the  social  order  corresponding 
to  truth  in  the  intellect. 

And  in  the  third  place  I  was  passing  through  a  series 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST.  3 

Of  Subjective  experiences,  experiences  of  the  mind  and 
heart,  moral  and  spiritual  growing-pains — and  again  I 
became  a  Socialist.  I  shall  devote  a  whole  pamphlet  to 
this  phase  of  the  subject.  See  Part  II). 

The  Social  and  Economic  Necessity  of  Humanity  :  a 
Scientific  Study  of  Society  :  and  Spiritual  Light  combined 
to  make  me  a  Socialist.  I  know  these  three  are  one. 
They  correspond  to  the  three-fold  aspect  of  human 
life :  physical,  intellectual,  and  spiritual.  And  so 
it  must  be  that  a  Programme  which  will  satisfy  human 
need  and  abolish  human  suffering,  must  be  Truth  to 
the  Intellect,  and  Spiritual  Release  to  the  heart. 

In  a  penny  pamphlet  you  will  not  expect  me  to  give 
you  anything  like  an  adequate  treatment  of  any  of  these 
aspects.  The  subject  is  too  extensive.  I  shall  give 
you  but  a  running  outline,  with  perhaps  a  fuller  treat- 
ment of  the  third  element  in  Part  II. 


II. 
EDUCATION  BY  RAW  FACT. 

From  my  earliest  recollections  my  heart  had  been 
moved  at  the  sight  of  human  misery,  no  matter  what 
the  cause.  And  long  before  I  came  to  Chicago — that 
citadel  of  Capitalism — I  had  heard  the  cry  of  the 
suffering.  But  it  was  not  until  I  came  face  to  face  with 
the  actual  poverty  and  misery  and  struggle  of  the 
workers  as  a  Class  that  the  whole  horrible  tragedy  pre- 
sented itself  to  my  mind  as  a  social  problem — a  thing  to 
be  studied,  thought  out,  acted  upon  by  Society  as  a 
Whole,  and  abolished.  Poverty  in  the  wholesale 
— shall  I  say — had  never  impressed  me.  Poverty  as  a 
socially  inflicted  curse  to  be  socially  abolished  by  radical 
social  reconstruction — that  had  never  come  to  my  mind 
before. 

The  very  first  day  I  entered  upon  my  pastorate 
in  the  heart  of  that  great  city,  the  gaunt  spectacle  of 
poverty,  stalking  amidst  abundance  like  a  death-head. 


4  HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 

stared  me  in  the  face.  The  church  which  I  served  was 
well-located  to  be  my  school  of  training  for  Socialism. 
On  one  side  not  far  away  were  the  beautiful  boulevards, 
along  which  the  motor  cars  and  glittering  equipage 
of  the  rich  rolled  past  spacious  lawns  and  magnificent 
and  palatial  residences.  The  north  and  west  was 
densely  populated  with  artisans  and  labourers,  and 
eastward,  towards  the  throbbing  centre  of  the  metro- 
polis, along  the  river  were  the  well-known  sixteenth, 
seventeenth,  and  nineteenth  wards — slumdom.  Thus 
the  scene  of  my  labours  in  the  city  was  to  me  an 
education  in  economics.  On  the  other  hand,  I  was 
spending  half  of  my  time  at  the  University  in  the  richest 
suburb  of  Chicago,  where  wealth  and  luxury  were 
displayed  on  every  hand.  This  afforded  me  the  other 
side  of  the  picture. 

1.— The  industrial  Tragedy. 

At  once  the  severe  contrasts  of  wealth  and  poverty 
were  thrust  concretely  before  my  consciousness.  From 
home  to  home  I  passed  among  the  people  in  my  pas- 
toral work.  I  knew  the  wages  they  received — and — 
the  wages  they  did  not  receive.  I  knew  what  rents 
they  paid,  the  cost  of  living — and — the  cost  of  dying. 
I  knew  how  the  men  laboured  from  early  to  late. 
I  knew  how  the  wives  and  mothers  toiled.  I  knew 
how  the  children  worked. 

I  can  recall  to-day  the  very  names  and  first  names 
.  of  the  girls  that  went  to  the  shops,  and  mills,  and 
factories — to  put  in  all  their  days  for  miserable  weekly 
doles — their  lives  bitter  with  hard  labour.  I  saw  their 
faces  pale — the  roses  fade — the  step  grow  weary — and 
the  grave  open — to  give  them — rest.  Over  many  and 
many  such  a  grave  I  read  the  burial  service,  "  The 
Lord  giveth  and  the  Lord  taketh  away/'  when  I  knew 
I  was  reading  a  lie.  I  was  accusing  the  Lord  of  the 
crime  of  Capitalism,  and  sanctifying  that  crime  with 
ceremonial  babble. 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 


I  knew  the  boys  and  girls  who  went  forth  to  fill  the 
places  of  those  who  went  no  longer.  I  saw  their  young 
lives  offered  on  the  altar  of  the  gain-god  Mammon.  I 
remember  little  Bob  -  — ,  who  with  a  bit  of  charcoal, 
could  sketch  the  faces  of  noted  men  on  the  flagstones, 
to  the  amazement  of  the  bystanders — he  darts  up  a 
dirty  alley  at  the  approach  of  the  policeman  who  comes 
to  disperse  the  crowd — the  charcoal  is  dropped — he 
goes  for  a  dole  per  week  to  work  for  a  "  merchant 
prince  "  who  lives  on  the  boulevard  far  away,  whose 
land-holdings  alone,  within  sound  of  a  gun-shot,  are 
worth  two  million  pounds.  I  remember  Nellie  -  — , 
who  worked  in  the  soap  factory  of  the  great  benevolent 
'soap  makers,  known  over  the  world,  millionaires. 
Nellie  fainted  at  one  of  my  meetings  one  Sunday  night. 
She  actually  disturbed  God's  service  with  her  secular 
cries,  "  the  soap  is  heavy — is  heavy — too  heavy  ." 
The  big  trays  she  carried  across  her  body.  She  died — 
a  suicide — at  nineteen.  Capitalism  was  too  busy 
gathering  profits  from  the  unpaid  labour  of  the  girl 
who  took  her  place  to  attend  her  funeral.  .... 
(The  next  morning  I  read  in  the  papers  the  account  of 
the  charity  ball.  It  took  a  full  column  to  describe  the 
gorgeous  apparel  of  the  charitable  dancers).  .  .  .  . 
And  I  remember  scores — hundreds  of  human  beings — 
they  march  before  the  eye  of  memory — people  I  knew 
— I  hear  their  cries — beaten,  baffled,  foot-sore,  weary, 
hungry,  depressed,  broken-spirited — I  see  that  army — 
the  victims  of  Capitalism 

I  say  I  saw  these  contrasts — "  wealth  a  monster 
gorged  'midst  starving  populations/'  I  saw  these 

struggling  multitudes — they  were  as  sheep 

having  no  shepherd.  .  .  .  perhaps  they  had 
shepherds.  .  .  .  perhaps.  .... 

2.— The  Great  Lie. 


I  saw,  then,  in  this  school  of  mine  what  I  have  seen 
ever  since,  and  see  to-day,  in  every  great  industrial 


6  HOW   I    BECAME    A   SOCIALIST. 

centre  of  the  world.  I  saw  in  this  school,  where  the 
Firm  Face  of  Fact  was  teaching  me,  what  I  afterwards 
saw  in  the  slums  and  working-class  districts  of  London 
and  other  English  cities — that  a  Great  Lie  was  walking 
the  earth,  dressed  up,  disguised,  masked  by  respect- 
ability, and  accredited  by  religion — beating  to  earth  the 
toiling  millions,  gathering  the  product  of  their  hard 
labour,  and  placing  it  in  the  hands  that  never  earned  it, 
and  leaving  the  victims  thus  bruised  and  blasted  with 
good  advice  concerning  their  broken  lives  ! 

3.— The  Seal  of  Fact  Set. 

I  was  not  a  Socialist.  I  had  not  yet  read  a  line  of 
Socialist  literature.  I  did  not  know  a  Socialist  man  or 
woman.  I  did  not  know  I  was  in  the  school  of 
Socialism.  I  was  in  the  great  Human  World  of  Human 
Fact  and  Human  Struggle.  I  had  no  interests  to  con- 
serve. I  had  no  doctrines  to  defend  as  against  my 
brother-men.  I  was  unsophisticated — having  no 
political  creed  to  stand  by.  I  had  rich  friends,  but  none 
to  conciliate.  I  had  no  God  who  was  dependent  on  the 
gifts  of  the  rich  with  which  to  carry  on  his  meanings 
in  this  world.  The  itch  for  prominence  in  the  church 
had  not  smitten  me.  I  was  passionately  fond  of  study 
and  books,  but  it  had  never  occurred  to  me  that  educa- 
tion was  a  means  of  success  in  life,  a  ladder  by  which  to 
rise  away  from  the  people.  In  Part  II.  I  will  tell  you 
something  else  of  my  mental  state.  At  any  rate,  what 
I  want  to  say  here  is  that  the  Raw  Fact  of  our  present 
civilisation  set  like  a  seal  into  my  open  and  willing  soul. 

I  saw  people  in  possession  of  thousands  and  millions 
of  wealth,  which  I  knew  they  had  never  earned— never 
could  earn  by  any  means  of  hand  or  head. 

I  saw  the  great  working-class  going  in  surging, 
tramping  armies  to  shop,  factory,  and  mill,  putting  in 
their  youth,  and  manhood,  and  any  old-age  left  to 
them,  in  unceasing  toil.  I  knew  their  labour  was  pro- 
ducing all  the  bread,  building  all  the  houses,  making 
all  the  machines,  and  all  the  products  of  all  machines. 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST.  7 

I  knew  that  the  whole  material  of  civilisation  was  the 
work  of  their  hands. 
But  I  saw  that  they  were  not  paid  for  their  labour.    I 

saw  that  they  were  poor  in  varying  degrees  of  poverty, 
from  the  struggle  to  keep  decently  above  water,  to  the 
deep  damnation  of  the  submerged.  I  knew  that  they 
never  got  what  their  labour  produced — "  their  just 
reward  was  stolen  " — "  the  hire  of  the  labourers  was 
kept  back  by  the  fraud "  of  Capitalism,  to  use  a 
scripture  phrase. 

I  saw  with  mine  own  eyes  that  though  they  built  all 
the  houses  they  were  not  decently  housed ;  that 
though  they  ploughed  and  reaped  in  all  the  fields,  and 
tended  all  the  flocks  and  herds,  that  they  were  not 
properly  fed ;  that  though  they  wove  all  the  finest 
fabrics,  and  stitched  all  the  fair  garments,  they  them- 
selves were  miserably  clad. 

I  saw  my  brothers  hunt  for  a  job,  offer  themselves  for 
sale  to  master  after  master,  in  vain,  day  after  day. 
I  helped  them  hunt.  I  went  with  Tom  or  Mack  to 
"  use  my  influence/'  and  found  fifty  others  looking  for 
the  same  job.  And  then  I  saw  the  armies  of  the 
unemployed. 

And  I  saw  at  such  times  the  storehouses  filled  with 
every  kind  of  thing  for  human  need — the  stored  up 
product  of  labour.  But  "  labour  "  shivered  in  the 
street,  or  crouched  in  the  tenement,  or  trod  foot-sore 
and  weary  in  the  highway — a  "  drug  on  the  market." 

I  saw  the  skilled  and  the  highly  skilled  mechanic  sit 
glum  and  ill-natured  in  his  home,  after  his  mocked 
efforts  to  sell  his  labour-power,  minding  the  babies, 
and  doing  the  house-work,  while  the  mother  and  wife 
was  away  in  the  sweater's  den — which  was  running 
profitably. 

I  saw  the  battle,  fierce,  and  unsuccessful  of  the 
strikers,  like  men  fighting  in  a  fog  or  in  murky  darkness, 
as  they  went  forth  to  demand  a  living  wage — fighting 
against  the  most  skilfully  and  strategically  organised 
and  compact  masters'  associations. 


S  HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 

I  saw  children  by  thousands  answering  the  call, 
"  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  Me/'  but  when 
they  went  it  was  to  be  offered  on  the  devouring  altars  of 
the  Moloch  Of  Profit.  I  knew  these  children  by  name,  I 
tell  you  I  remember  their  faces 

I  did  not  know  this  thing  as  Capitalism.  I  had  not 
read  the  books  at  first.  The  book  of  life — the  Tragedy 
of  the  Fact — was  before  me.  I  saw  this  panorama : 
Millionaires  suffocated  by  their  Profits  ;  gambling  with 
a  world's  resources,  making  security  for  the  few  and 
chance  for  the  many ;  toiling  working-classes,  doing 
the  work  of  the  world,  scarcely  able  to  make  a  living  ; 
millions  of  poverty-stricken  ones,  snatching  for  crumbs 
from  the  economic  struggle— degradation,  misery 
wretchedness,  disease,  death,  and  Hell ! 

4.— How  the  Seal  Read. 


I  questioned.  I  watched.  I  pondered.  I  prayed, 
The  whole  thing  appeared  to  me  like  a  devastating  fire 
that  must  be  extinguished  ;  like  an  overwhelming 
deluge,  from  which  the  people  must  be  rescued  ;  like 
unto  a  plague  whose  ravages  must  be  stayed. 

And  now  I  will  tell  you  the  first  constructive  insight 
that  came  to  me,  and  gave  me  some  relief,  and  Justin 
the  order  of  thought  in  which  I  received  it. 

I  saw  that  the  people  were  in  this  world  :  that  they 
had  to  make  a  "  living."  They  were  not  angels  but 
men.  They  had  to  get  bread  and  the  necessaries  and 
comforts  of  life. 

I  saw  that  the  only  source  of  that  existence  was  the 
earth,  the  land,  and  its  raw  gifts  :  And  I  saw  that  these 
could  not  be  attained  without  labour,  nor  made  avail- 
able without  machinery. 

I  saw  that  there  was  a  struggle  for  existence  among 
us  living  men.  And  that  that  struggle  resolved  itself 
into  a  fierce  competition  to  get  control  of  the  earth, 
the  machinery,  and  the  opportunities  to  labour. 

I  saw  that  my  brothers  and  sisters,  old  and  young, 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST.  9 

were  very  unequal  in  that  struggle.  And  I  saw  that 
the  whole  base  Of  supplies— the  cupboard,  as  it  were— 
the  land  and  machinery — was  open  to  private  owner- 
Ship  of  the  man  or  men  who  could  win  it,  and  not  by 
labour,  but  by  "  financiering/'  by  the  game  Of  high 
finance. 

And  then  I  saw  that  the  only  possible  outcome  of 
such  a  struggle  was,  that  after  a  fierce  competitive 
contest,  with  the  losers  falling  like  wheat  before  the 
sickle — never  to  rise — I  saw  that  the  few — powerful 
cunning,  able,  unscrupulous,  ruthless,  and  reckless, 
loving  gold  and  power,  forgetting  God  and  man — that 
these  must  inevitably  win,  and  become  the  owners,  the 
controllers,  the  disposers  of  the  whole  base  of  supplies 
by  which  the  whole  mass  of  the  people  must  live  and 
labour.  That's  what  I  saw.  And  I  reeled  at  the 
thought. 

Capitalism  revealed  itself  to  me  as  a  ghastly  and  un- 
forgivable crime  against  humanity.  For  the  uttermost 
tyranny  possible  to  a  human  being,  compelled  to  live  by 
labour,  is  to  control  the  means  of  labour  (his  bread  and 
labour),  which  is  his  very  blood  and  life.  I  shuddered 
at  the  appalling  curse  that  modern  society  inflicted  upon 
itself.  I  saw  the  whole  commercial  world  and  the  Battle 
for  Bread  and  Labour  clear  through — a  gigantic  gamble 
with  the  land  and  machinery  and  products  of  labour 
as  the  stake — I  saw  the  few  triumphant  winners  far 
in  the  lead,  an  irresponsible,  godless,  inhuman  pluto- 
cracy—and when  I  looked  again  it  was  a  gamble  with 
the  very  bodies  and  souls  of  my  fellow-creatures  !  And 
I  rose  up  and  cursed  it  .  .  .  . ! 

The  death-head  that  confronted  me  on  the  first  day 
I  entered  upon  that  Chicago  pastorate  was  interpreted. 
IT  WAS  CAPITALISM. 

I  was  not  yet  a  Socialist.  I  did  not  quite  know  my- 
self as  such.  These  lessons  had  not  been  taught  to  me 
by  books  and  teachers.  The  irresistible,  all-compelling 
Seal  of  Fact  had  stamped  itself  deeply,  indelibly  into  my 
SOUl.  And  I  was  reading  the  lettering  thereof.  And  as 


10  HOW   I    BECAME    A   SOCIALIST. 

I  read  that  Seal,  I  uttered  in  my  words  what  the  great 
Socialist  teachers  had  taught  long  before  in  their 
much  clearer  phrase.  The  Raw  Fact  was  doing  its 
work  in  my  being. 

Soul  and  Fact  were  meeting  each  other.  The  need 
of  an  oppressed,  outraged,  and  defrauded  class,  seen, 
felt,  and  known,  was  making  me  a  Socialist. 


III. 
THE  SOCIALIST  CRITICISM  OF  CAPITALISM. 

So  far  in  my  story  I  have  told  you  how  Raw  Fact 
wrought  upon  my  consciousness  and  made  me  a 
Socialist. 

In  Part  II.,  under  another  cover,  I  shall  tell  you  how 
the  facts  of  modern  civilisation  deepened  and  widened 
my  moral  and  spiritual  convictions.  I  shall  tell  you 
how  my  soul  revolted  against  Capitalism  :  not  only 
against  its  injustice  and  cruelty  and  social  tyranny, 
but  against  its  ideals,  its  business  maxims,  its  morals 
and  its  religion,  which  condoned  and  bulwarked  the 
system.  And  I  shall  tell  you  how  this  revolt  against 
Capitalism  worked  its  way  to  a  new  constructive  insight 
into  the  meaning  of  the  personal  life  in  relation  to  the 
Social  Movement. 

1.— History,  Sociology,  and  Political  Economy. 

The  second  element,  during  these  four  years,  that 
made  me  a  Socialist  was  the  study  of  history,  soci- 
ology, and  political  economy. 

During  the  first  year  of  my  Chicago  pastorate,  the 
facts  I  have  narrated  were  my  great  instructor.  It  was 
only  natural  that  feeling  as  I  did  I  should  be  drawn  to 
study  particularly  the  great  Social  Problem  thus  thrust 
before  me.  With  avidity  and  patience  I  turned  to  all 
available  literature  on  the  subject.  I  began  to  read 
history  in  a  new  light — paying  less  heed  to  the  story 
of  strutting  princes,  as  they  appeared  and  disappeared 


HOW    I    BECAME    A   SOCIALIST.  II 

upon  the  stage  of  life,  and  more  heed  to  the  chronicles 
of  the  common  life,  the  story  of  labour,  the  history  of 
the  working  classes,  and  the  accounts  of  great  social 
revolutions,  which  made  for  the  freedom  and  emancipa- 
tion of  man. 

Through  the  heavy  volumes  of  sociology  I  waded, 
following  the  pages,  now  of  this  author,  now  of  that, 
in  the  varying  interpretation  of  the  stream  of  human 
events.  Political  economy,  "  the  dismal  science/'  also 
claimed  my  attention.  And  here  I  ought  to  relieve 
my  college  instructors  from  any  charge  that  they 
converted  me  to  Socialism.  The  very  opposite  was 
the  case.  In  political  economy  my  professors  were 
"  sound/'  the  text-books  used  were  properly  stale  with 
orthodoxy,  defining  and  justifying  the  Capitalist  sys- 
tem. And  if  ever  I  could  have  been  saved  from 
Socialist  error,  my  head  professor  in  sociology  would 
have  been  the  man  to  do  it.  He  was  thoroughly  anti- 
democratic. He  had  a  contempt  for  the  working 
classes,  and  a  fawning  devotion  to  the  privileged  and 
powerful.  He  was  strictly  "  class-conscious.''  He 
could  not  conceive  of  industry  being  conducted  in  any 
way  except  by  millionaire  profit-mongers  or  petty 
competing  business  men.  I  cannot  recall  that  I  ever 
heard  him  advocate  a  single  progressive,  reconstructive, 
social  principle.  He  was  a  most  faithful  servant  to  his 
capitalist  masters. 

2.— The  Socialist  Light  Bursts. 

However,  I  escaped  the  snare.  I  ransacked  the 
library  shelves,  and  with  my  own  interpretation  of  the 
facts,  as  I  have  given  it  to  you,  as  a  working  hypo- 
thesis, I  soon  began  to  see  the  glimmer  of  the  Socialist 
light  through  all  the  pages.  And  then  came  the  great 
Socialist  literature  itself,  like  a  balm  to  the  aching  mind, 
like  dawn  after  darkness,  like  springs  of  water  in  a 
desert,  like  a  breath  of  fresh  air  after  suffocation.  Here 
the  intellect  found  rest.  One  of  the  great  sociologists 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 


says,  that  perhaps  the  highest  desire  of  the  human 
consciousness  is  the  desire  for  Truth,  and  the  highest 
joy  of  the  human  mind  is  the  Discovery  of  Truth,  the 
perception  of  principles.  So  the  vision  of  the  Truths 
of  Socialism  has  been  to  many  a  Socialist,  as  it  was  to 
me,  an  intellectual  ecstasy,  for  I  had  found  the  Truth 
that  would  make  the  people  Socially  Free.  I  had 
found  the  political  and  economic  programme  that  was 
the  incarnation  of  my  moral  and  spiritual  passion  to  set 
the  working-class  free  from  the  social  bondage  in  which 
I  saw  them  to  be  enslaved. 

A  full  presentation  of  Socialist  political  economy  can 
be  found  in  scores  of  books  and  pamphlets  published  by 
the  Socialist  Press  throughout  the  world.  Therefore  it 
is  not  necessary  for  me  to  present  in  detail  my 
principles  and  convictions.  However  I  may  differ  in 
rfiy  points  of  emphasis,  or  methods  of  presentation,  I 
am  in  full  agreement  with  the  fundamental  declara- 
tions of  Socialism  as  held  by  Socialists  the  world  over. 

3.— Political  Economy — A  Short  Lesson. 

The  word  "  economy  "  is  derived  from  two  Greek 
words  which  mean  "  the  law  or  method  of  keeping 
house."  And  Political  Economy  is  therefore  the  Science 
Of  National  Housekeeping.  That  is  to  say  :  Here  is  a 
certain  area  of  land  ;  with  its  resources  of  coal,  iron, 
crops,  pasturage,  farms,  sites,  etc.,  with  a  certain 
increasing  equipment  of  machinery.  This  area  is 
populated  by  so  many  millions  of  people.  Now,  Politi- 
cal Economy  or  the  Science  of  Economics  asks  this 
question  :  How  can  these  millions  of  people  utilise 
this  land,  use  the  machinery,  put  forth  their  labour- 
power,  in  order  to  guarantee  each  and  everyone  access 
to  the  use  of  the  land  and  machinery,  that  each  may 
labour  and  provide  himself  and  his  family  with  the 
necessaries  and  comforts  and  satisfactions  of  life.  The 
question  is  :  How  to  give  freedom  to  all ;  prevent  the 
few  from  controlling  the  many  ;  give  to  each  approxi- 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST.  13 

mately  the  product  of  his  toil  as  his  private  property ; 
and  prevent  some  from  securing  for  their  own  private 
property  that  for  which  they  have  not  laboured. 

Surely  this  is  a  plain  and  fair  question,  and  in  face  of 
the  facts,  as  I  have  cited  them,  it  is  an  imperative  ques- 
tion. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  then,  Socialism  points  out  that 
the  present  Capitalist  system,  instead  of  being  a  system 
of  True  Economy,  is  really  a  system  of  awful  Waste — 
not  only  a  waste  of  land,  and  a  waste  of  mechanical 
power,  and  a  waste  of  products,  but,  worst  of  all,  a 
tragic  waste  of  human  energy  and  human  lives. 

4.— The  Socialist  Criticism  of  Capitalism. 

Socialism  points  out  that  the  land  is  fertile  and 
abundant,  capable  of  being  the  source  of  satisfaction 
for  all  physical  human  needs  : 

That  machinery  with  its  Titanic  might  of  steam  and 
electricity  has  vastly  multiplied  the  possibilities  of  man 
to  turn  the  raw  gifts  of  nature  into  the  finished  products 
for  use  and  enjoyment. 

Socialism  points  out  that  no  working-class  in  the 
history  of  the  world  ever  worked  so  faithfully,  so  effi- 
ciently, and  SO  productively,  as  the  working-class  of  the 
present  Capitalist  System.  The  slave  under  the 
master's  whip  could  never  be  as  punctual,  painstaking, 
and  trustworthy,  as  the  modern  factory  operative. 
Hunger  and  necessity,  and  the  Bread  Battle  of  Free 
Labour,  are  more  powerful  compellers  than  slave- 
drivers'  whips. 

I  saw  that  the  product  of  labour  was  increasing  to  in- 
calculable limits — corn,  bread,  meat,  clothing,  shoes, 
houses,  furniture,  machinery,  etc., — such  a  product  of 
human  toil  is  past  the  dream  of  our  fathers.  The 
store-houses  were  filled,  and  the  trains  rushed  over  the 
land  and  ships  tracked  all  the  seas,  laden  with  the 
products  of  human  toil 

And  yet — and  yet 


14  HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 

And  yet — what  ? 

And  yet  I  saw  the  working-classes,  whose  labour  had 
produced  this  colossal  mass  of  things  for  human  satis- 
faction— I  saw  them  in  comparative  poverty,  and  in  a 
constant,  unremitting  struggle  for  a  decent  existence. 

Socialism  declares  that  the  fabulous  fortunes  of  the 
rich  are  built  up  out  of  the  unpaid  labour  of  the  working- 
class. 

And  I  saw  that  out  of  this  very  surplus  in  the  hands 
of  the  Capitalist  Class — a  surplus  that  should  have  gone 
into  the  hands  that  earned  it,  the  Capitalist  Class 
bought  and  owned  and  used  for  their  still  further 
private  enrichment  and  profit,  the  land  and  the  ma- 
chinery, which  was  the  only  resource  by  which  the 
working-class  could  live  and  labour. 

I  saw  that  the  very  faithfulness  of  the  working-class 
tended  to  more  quickly  fill  the  markets  of  the  world 
with  the  products  of  their  toil — a  product  so  extensive 
that  their  small  wages  could  not  buy  it  back — and  thus 
their  very  efficiency  drove  multitudes  of  their  class  to 
unemployment — a  pretty  economy  this —  ! 

5.— Security  for  the  Few— Chance  for  the  Many. 

I  saw  that  Capitalism  guaranteed  comparative 
security  in  private  property  to  the  capitalist  class,  to 
the  men  that  could  win  it  in  the  Competitive  Game ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  I  saw  that  Capitalism  gave 
no  guarantee  or  security  of  private  property  to  the 
worker  in  the  natural  product  of  his  labour. 

The  greater  part  of  the  product  of  the  labour  of  the 
working-class  went  direct  and  first-hand  to  those  who 
could  win  it  in  the  gamble  of  Capitalism,  or  to  those  who 
controlled  the  tools  and  machinery  and  land,  on  which 
and  with  which  the  workers  worked. 

I  saw  that  the  worker  was  neither  guaranteed  the 
chance  to  utilise  his  labour,  nor  to  receive  the  earnings 
of  his  labour  when  he  did  work.  His  chances  to  labour 
depended  on  wrhether  the  Capitalist  class  could  make 


HOW    I    BECAME    A   SOCIALIST.  15 

a  profit  out  of  his  energy.  If  the  employing  class  could 
do  this  then  they  would  hire  him.  If  they  co\ild  not 
profit  on  his  labour-power,  then  he  might  join  the  army 
of  the  unemployed  ! 

How  is  that  for  economy  of  human  energy  ? 

The  present  system  is  the  best  industrial  system  for 
enriching  the  few  out  of  the  natural  earnings  of  the 
working-class  that  has  ever  existed  in  human  history. 

6.— The  Workers  Divided  at  the  Baiiot  Box. 

To  cap  this  climax  of  the  fraud  upon  the  true  and 
natural  private  property  that  should  accrue  to  the 
working-class,  the  brains  of  the  workers  were  addled 
by  Capitalist  politicians  and  teachers  in  press  and  pulpit, 

so  that  they  believed  that  such  a  system  was  almost 
"  ordained  of  God/'  When  Socialists  propose  that  a 
system  of  industry  to  be  just  should  prevent  the  Capi- 
talist class  from  absorbing  the  true  earnings  of  the 
working-class,  these  devotees  at  the  shrine  of  the  Gain- 
gods  cry  out,  "  Stop  thief !  "  To  protest  against 
Capitalism's  robbery  is  called  a  "  vile  political  creed  " 
and  "  atheism." 

And  one  set  of  politicians  declare  for  certain  minor 
changes  in  the  system,  and  the  other  party  declares  for 
certain  other  minor  changes  in  the  system,  but  neither 
of  them  declare  for  any  fundamental  change  which  might 
interfere  with  the  profits  and  winnings  of  the  Capitalist ' 
class. 

And  thus  the  workers  are  divided  into  two  hostile 
political  camps,  and  no  matter  which  camp  wins,  the 
Capitalist  class  always  wins,  remains  in  the  saddle,  and 
continues  to  exploit  the  working-class. 


IV. 
CONSTRUCTIVE  PRINCIPLES. 

Now  if  you  will  look  straight  at  this  system  of 
Capitalism  you  will  see  the  basic  wrong  of  the  whole 
system,  from  which  all  its  injustices  arise. 


l6  HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 

You  remember  Victor  Hugo's  story  of  the  devil-fish  ; 
how  the  monster  put  forth  one  tentacle  after  another 
and  coiled  it  around  his  victim  :  how  the  hero  recalled 
that  there  was  but  one  vulnerable  spot  in  his  brute 
enemy  ;  how  at  the  strategic  moment  he  struck  a  blow 
at  that  spot,  and  the  terrible  demon  of  the  deep 
shuddered,  released  his  grasp,  and  fell  dead. 


1.— The  Grip  of  Capitalism. 

Capitalism  is  a  monster  seizing  the  body  politic.  One 
tentacle  is  put  forth  to  grasp  the  major  part  of  the 
earnings  of  the  working-class  :  another  has  seized  the 
working-woman  :  another  reaches  forth  to  the  child  : 
another  has  fastened  upon  Government  and  made  that 
the  instrument  of  the  powerful  classes  :  still  another 
has  turned  the  pen  of  the  journalist  into  a  weapon  by 
which  the  injustice  of  Capitalism  is  praised  and  de- 
fended :  and  still  another  has  seized  the  pulpit, 
silenced  those  who  profess  to  speak  for  God  and  man, 
or  turned  their  phrases  into  open  apology  and  defence 
for  the  Crime  of  Capitalism  ! 

But  there  is  one  vulnerable  spot  in  Capitalism. 
If  the  working-class  of  the  world  can  see  that  spot  and 
strike  they  shall  be  free. 

The  fundamental  wrong,  the  basic  Injustice  of  the 
Capitalist  System,  is  that  the  resources  of  land  and 
machinery,  to  which  ALL  THE  PEOPLE  must  have 
access,  in  order  to  live  and  labour,  are  owned  by  THE 
FEW,  and  are  conducted  by  the  few  for  PRIVATE 
PROFIT. 

The  workers  must  live  :  they  have  no  resources  but 
their  Labour-Power  :  this  Labour-Power  they  must 
sell  by  day  or  week  to  the  employing  class,  not  for 
what  that  labour-power  can  produce,  but  for  whatever 
it  will  bring  as  a  mere  commodity  in  a  crowded  labour- 
market. 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST.  \j 

2.— What  Socialism  Proposes. 

It  is  necessary  to  point  out  with  much  repetition 
this  fundamental  wrong  of  Capitalism  in  order  to  see 
clearly  that  Socialism  is  the  only  possible  programme 
that  will  meet  that  wrong. 

Since  the  fundamental  wrong  of  Capitalism  is  that  the 
few  own  the  Resources  of  living  and  run  them  for 
Private  Profit,  Socialism  proposes  that  the  Basic 
Industrial  Equipment  shall  be  Socially  or  Collectively 
Owned  and  Democratically  organised  in  the  interests  of 
the  whole  people. 

Socialism  \vould  thus  guarantee  employment  to 
every  citizen. 

It  would  produce  things  on  a  large  scale  for  use 
rather  than  for  profit. 

These  things  would  be  sold  at  cost  Of  production,, 
plus  the  needs  of  social  administration. 

The  hours  of  labour  would  be  reduced. 

The  wages  of  all  would  be  greatly  raised. 

And  the  purchasing  power  of  these  wages  would  be 
greatly  increased  ;  because  production  on  such  a  large 
scale  would  decrease  cost  of  production,  and  the  enor- 
mous profits  of  landowners  and  capitalists  would  be 
eliminated,  and  the  great  wastes  of  competing  manu- 
facturers and  middlemen  would  be  at  an  end. 

As  a  result  of  the  Collective  Ownership  of  the  basic 
equipment  of  industry,  such  as  railways,  steamships, 
collieries,  land,  shops,  mills,  mines,  markets,  stores,  etc., 
etc.,  there  would  be  a  greater  amount  of  private  pro- 
perty possible  to  each  worker  than  ever  before  in  human 
history.  But  no  individual  could  accumulate  and  con* 
trol  as  private  property,  the  machinery  or  resources  on 
which  other  people  depended  for  existence. 

Everyone  would  be  secure  in  the  opportunity  to  work. 

There  would  be  no  Capitalist  exploiters  to  abstract  his 
earnings. 

Goods  produced  cheaply  would  make  his  labour  go  a 
long  way. 


l8  KOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 

The  incentive  to  make  a  good  living  and  to  multiply 
the  comforts  and  satisfactions  of  life,  would  be  opera- 
tive for  all.  The  incentive  to  control  public  resources 
while  people  starved — might  be  operative — but  could 
not  find  scope. 

The  net  result  would  be  an  increase  of  comfort  and 
happiness,  of  freedom,  independence,  and  well-being  for 
all.  The  present  Social  Problem  would  be  met  and 
solved,  and  the  race  launched  on  its  next  Great 
Freedom  from  ignorance  and  servitude.  Socialism  is 
the  hope  of  the  world. 

3. — Concluding  Words. 

Every  great  revolution  in  human  history  passes 
through  four  stages.  The  Socialist  movement  is  passing 
through  these  four  stages  in  different  ininds  and 
different  nations. 

First,  men  begin  to  awake  to  a  sense  of  the  wrongs 
and  injustices  from  which  they  suffer.  It  is  almost  un- 
believable how  long  a  suffering  class  can  endure 
social  injustice  without  protest.  For  a  long,  long  time 
wrongs  that  later  stand  out  glaringly,  are  patiently 
endured.  Nay,  more,  the  modern  proletariat  has 
actually  been  grateful  to  the  master-class  for  condi- 
tions, which,  in  the  light  of  Justice,  are  social  outrages. 
Witness  the  half-time  system.  The  workers  are  blinded 
by  the  darkness  of  Capitalism  and  played  as  pawns  in 
the  political  game.  The  slave-spirit  leads  them  to  flock 
to  the  standards  of  their  masters,  if  perchance  a  little 
glory  of  the  leaders  may  fall  upon  them.  Then  comes 
some  acute  injustice,  and  an  awakening  follows.  For 
nearly  fifty  years  now  there  has  been  a  growing  revolt 
on  the  part  of  the  working-class.  The  Trade  Union 
movement  was  the  first  organised  expression  of  this 
revolt  against  Capitalism.  Many  a  hard-fought  battle  of 
the  trade  unions,  many  a  crushing  defeat  has  been  neces- 
sary in  order  to  weld  them  into  the  first  elements  of 
class-consciousness.  Evils  taken  as  a  matter  of  course 


HOW   I    BECAME   A   SOCIALIST.  Ig 

begin  to  be  analysed,  and  revolt  becomes  more  or  less 
intelligent.  The  workers  protest  against  long  hours, 
low  wages,  unemployment,  sweating,  bad  housing, 
social  degradation,  and  the  general  poverty  and  wide- 
spread misery  in  human  society.  The  first  stage  is  a 
protest  against  wrongs  and  injustices  as  effects.  Indi- 
vidual capitalists,  landlords,  or  corporations  are 
singled  out  for  attack  for  their  greed  and  ruthlessness 
over  human  life.  The  remedies  sought  and  applied  are 
near  at  hand.  Almost  always  they  are  temporary  and 
ineffectual.  Every  advance  is  a  compromise.  The  real 
evils  continue,  and  with  the  growing  sensitiveness  of 
human  life  in  modern  times,  evils  are  more  deeply  felt. 
This  poverty  and  misery  of  the  working-class,  especially 
in  religious  England  and  America,  is  something  appal- 
ling. One  might  wonder  how  statesmen  can  sleep  in  the 
midst  of  it. 

Then  the  second  stage  is  entered  upon.  From  dealing 
with  effects  they  turn  to  causes.  It  was  inevitable  that 
some  movement,  reflective,  philosophical,  radical,  even 
revolutionary,  should  be  precipitated  out  of  the  unrest 
of  the  last  half  century.  That  movement  might  have 
been  called  by  any  name.  It  has  arisen  and  is  called  the 
International  Socialist  Movement.  Socialism  is  the 
great  interpreter  of  the  fundamental  cause  of  our  social 
and  industrial  injustice  and  the  degradation  and 
slavery  of  the  masses.  The  suffering  of  the  workers, 
secreted  as  it  were  a  brain.  That  brain  is  Socialism. 
This  leaven  becomes  directive  and  constructive,  not 
only  to  the  whole  working-class,  but  through  them  to 
the  whole  of  civilization. 

The  third  stage  follows  :  As  soon  as  the  cause  is 
clearly  perceived,  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  New 
Order  appears.  Socialism  points  out  that,  since 
private  ownership  of  social  resources,  and  private 
administration  of  social  production  for  private  profit,  is 
the  one  supreme  cause  of  the  present  enslavement  of 
the  working-class,  therefore  the  Social  Principle  that 
must  be  applied  to  industry  is  Social  or  Collective 


2o  HOW  i  BECAME  A  SOCIALIST. 

Ownership  of  the  basic  social  resources  of  the  people's 
life  and  labour,  and  democratic  organisation  and 
administration  of  social  production  for  Social  Use, 
instead  of  for  Private  Profit :  that  Co-operation  must 
take  the  place  of  Competition  and  Private  Monopoly  : 
that  Private  Property  In  the  product  of  one's  labour  can 
only  be  secured  by  making  the  social  means  of  labour 
into  Social  or  Collective  Property. 

The  last  stage  is  the  Class-Struggle  in  its  acute  form. 
The  working-class  grasp  the  New  Principle,  and  pro- 
ceed to  put  it  into  Social  and  Industrial  operation. 

In  this  stage  all  previous  stages  concentrate.  The 
evils  from  which  the  working-class  suffer  are  recounted, 
and  vividly  uncovered  to  the  consciousness.  The  cause 
of  these  evils  is  stated  with  irresistible  definiteness. 
The  new  Principle  is  made  a  political  watchword.  And 
the  workers,  forsaking  all  other  political  parties  of  their 
Capitalist  exploiters,  rally  to  the  polls  as  a  class-con- 
scious body,  elect  their  own  representatives  to  go  to 
borough  and  city  councils,  and  national  parliaments,  to 
put  the  New  Principle  of  Social  Organisation  into 
complete  realisation. 

In  this  pamphlet  I  have  sought  principally  to 
awaken  the  consciousness  of  my  readers  to  the  wrongs 
of  Capitalism,  and  to  state  the  fundamental  cause  of 
these  wrongs,  and  point  out  the  New  Principle. 


How    I    Became    a   Socialist. 


I. 

THE  CHURCH  AND  SOCIALISM. 

No  man  can  live  in  the  closing  years  of  the  nine 
teenth  and  the  opening  years  of  the  twentieth  century 
without  becoming  poisoned  with  the  Capitalistic 
Spirit,  or  liberated  by  the  Socialist  Spirit,  to  some 
degree  more  or  less.  I  have  told  you  (Part  I.)  in  what 
manner  the  facts  of  Capitalism  wrought  upon  me  to 
make  me  a  Socialist.  I  shall  now  tell  you  something  of 
the  religious,  spiritual,  or  psychological  experiences 
through  which  I  passed,  and  how  these  experiences 
eventually  birthed  me  into  Socialism. 

You  will  need  to  read  between  the  lines,  and  to  com- 
plete to  some  extent  the  avenues  of  thought  to  which  I 
may  project  you.  I  wish  to  be  perfectly  frank,  and  yet 
I  cannot  tell  all.  The  soul  shudders  to  expose  itself. 
I  shall  tell  you  enough  to  appeal  to  similar  meanings 
in  your  own  case,  even  though  the  accidents  of 
heredity  or  environment  may  greatly  differ.  We  are 
all  children  of  this  age,  and  we  can  reduce  nearly  all  of 
our  life  meanings  to  the  same  common  denominator. 

There  came  a  time  in  my  life  when  consent  to  live  at 
peace  with  the  present  Capitalist  System  of  Industry 
and  Life  and  Feeling,  without  making  active  and  in- 
telligent protest,  would  have  been  to  me  moral  suicide 
and  a  total  eclipse  of  the  ultimate  meaning  of  existence  ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  espousal  of  the  Socialist 
Cause,  with  all  that  it  carries  for  the  human  race, 
was  to  me  a  birth  into  a  new  world  of  spiritual  signifi- 
cance, which  becomes  increasingly  luminous  and 
emancipating.  Moral  conviction  and  spiritual  illumina- 
tion led  me  straight  to  Socialism, 


2  HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 

1.— The  Church  not  Responsible  for  My  Socialism. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  I  never  heard  any  Socialism 
in  my  father's  prayers.  Nor  did  my  mother's  piety  dis- 
close to  me  teachings  in  political  economy,  as  such. 
Nor  did  I  ever  hear  even  the  faintest  echo  of  a  Socialist 
proposition  in  all  my  teachings  that  I  listened  to  in  my 
youth  and  early  manhood.  I  heard  men  called  to 
"  good  works/'  to  "  charity,"  to  "  help  the  poor,"  and 
to  "  give  "  to  benevolent  and  charitable  institutions, 
but  I  never  heard  a  minister  of  the  gospel  deal  with 
poverty  as  a  social  problem— a  socially-inflicted  curse  to 
be  socially  abolished.  Their  call  was  to  benevolence, 
philanthropy,  and  charity  within  the  present  Capi- 
talist System  :  it  was  not  a  call  to  change  the  system. 

I  entered  the  theological  school.  I  studied  under 
some  of  the  greatest  church  scholars  and  teachers 
in  America.  These  men  taught  under  the  very  shadow 
of  Capitalism  enthroned  in  one  of  its  mighty  citadels — 
Chicago.  I  never  heard  one  of  them  present  the  cause 
of  the  people  in  all  they  ever  taught  me.  According 
to  these  great  men  the  slums  needed  "  evangelisation  " 
and  "  city  missions."  They  felt  dimly  that  the  working- 
class  was  not  reached  by  the  church — it  was  the  god- 
lessness,  and  beer-drinking,  and  pleasure-seeking  of  the 
masses. 

I  am  ready  to  acknowledge  that  I  learned  much 
from  those  great  scholars  and  fathers,  but  I  never 
received  from  a  single  one  of  them  a  single  hint  to  show 
that  there  was  any  great  Social  Problem,  or  Injustice 
which  the  working-class  suffered  under  Capitalism,  or 
any  industrial  oppression  or  wrong  from  which  they 
should  be  emancipated. 

I  studied  the  Greek  New  Testament,  church  his- 
tory, theology  and  allied  studies.  But  not  one  word  did 
I  ever  hear  about  the  struggle  of  the  people  under 
Capitalism  to-day  or  a  possible  way  out.  My  teachers 
and  examiners  would  acknowledge  that  I  knew  my 
theology  and  church  history  and  the  rest.  There  were 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST.  3 

three  volumes  of  Christian  theology  with  which  at  that 
time  I  was  so  familiar  that  I  could  close  my  eyes  and 
turn  the  pages  one  by  one  and  give  the  substance  of  the 
main  thought  on  each  page.  Had  there  been  therein  a 
single  inspiring  or  definite  consideration  of  the  relation 
of  Christianity  to  the  Wrongs  and  Injustices  of  Capi- 
talism, or  any  proposal  whatever  to  deal  with  these 
injustices,  surely  I  would  have  known  it. 

The  theological  school  was  not  my  instructor  in 
Socialism  except  by  way  of  negation,  and  they  should 
not  be  held  accountable. 

2.— Nor  the  Great  Preachers  and  Evangelists. 

Nor  did  the  great  preachers,  evangelists,  elders,  or 
bishops  of  the  church  influence  me  toward  Socialism. 
I  never  heard  or  read  a  single  syllable  from  these 
leaders  which  impeached  Capitalism  as  an  unrighteous 
or  un-Christian  social  system. 

When  I  began  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  labour 
movement  in  Chicago — a  very  moderate  activity — the 
preachers  looked  askance  at  me.  With  perhaps  one  or 
two  exceptions  I  never  received  the  slightest  sympathy 
or  good  cheer  from  any  of  them.  When  it  was  reported 
to  the  higher  church  authorities  of  the  well-to-do 
members  of  my  church  that  I  was  preaching  one 
sermon  on  the  Labour  Question  each  month,  and  hold- 
ing a  mass-meeting  of  working  men  to  discuss  the  pro- 
blems of  Labour  on  Friday  nights  in  the  church,  my 
bishop  (presiding-elder)  wrote  me  a  letter  of  severe 
chastisement.  He  wanted  to  know  if  I  was  going  to  be  a 
loyal  methodist,  and  was  amazed  at  my  youthful 
stupidity  in  thinking  that  I  could  learn  anything  about 
the  Labour  Problem  by  gathering  a  mass  of  work* 
people  into  my  church  to  "  talk  "  about  it.  He  warned 
me  that  to  do  this  in  order  to  get  light  on  the  Social  Pro- 
blem was  like  "  hunting  rabbits  with  a  brass  band." 
One  of  the  higher  officials  who  had  known  me  in  some 
of  my  spiritual  hungers  and  searchings,  expressed  the 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 


fear  that  my  SOUl  was  lost,  for  no  other  reason  than  that 
I  had  sought  to  apply  my  spiritual  vision  to  "  set  at 
liberty  the  people  that  are  bruised/' 

The  great  orators  of  the  church  were  inspired  by 
themes  that  suited  well  the  richest  congregations, 
themes  and  treatment  that  never  made  the  SOUlS  Of 
millionaires  the  least  uneasy  about  the  system  in  which 
their  ill-gotten  gains  were  gathered,  out  of  the  "  hire 
of  the  labourers  which  was  kept  back." 

I  attended  the  greatest  "  evangelistic  "  efforts  and 
camp-meetings  conducted  for  the  express  purpose  of 
producing  "  the  highest  type  of  New  Testament  piety." 
But  the  conversion  preached,  the  sanctification  ex- 
perienced, with  rapt  joy  and  exultation,  and  the  conse- 
quent piety  practised,  was  wholly  at  peace  with  the 
present  unjust,  unholy,  unchristian  Capitalist  System. 

To  these  "  Holiness  "  teachers,  the  social  system  was 
good  enough — indeed,  was  never  mentioned.  The 
supreme  effort  was  to  bring  individual  egos,  or  souls,  to- 
certain  subjective  experiences,  and  to  certain  cor- 
responding virtues — experiences  and  virtues  which 
were  quite  at  home  in  the  Capitalist  System.  They 
never  once  questioned  the  right  or  justice,  or  con- 
sistency of  Capitalism  with  the  mind  or  spirit  of  Jesus. 

Not  the  religion  of  Pharisees  and  hypocrites,  nor  the 
lowest  church-going  piety,  but  the  most  aggressive  and 
earnest  piety,  of  preachers  and  people  was  at  peace  with 
Capitalism. 

I  went  to  these  places  intensely  seeking  light  and 
spiritual  power.  But  those  who  taught  and  those 
who  sought  "  the  highest  standard  of  New  Testament 
piety  "  by  prayer  and  fasting  never  once  questioned 
the  Industrial  System,  which  to  me  was  the  modern 
Anti-Christ. 

3. — Capitalistic  Religion. 

If  Capitalism  could  succeed  in  throttling  the  Socialist 
Movement,  and  ride  rough-shod  over  a  despairing  and 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST.  5 

enslaved  working-class,  perpetuating  the  social  robbery 
of  the  people,  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  leaders  and 
dignitaries  of  the  churches,  protestant  and  catholic, 
would  boast  of  the  sublime  efforts  they  had  put  forth 
to  withstand  the  "  vile  political  creed  of  Socialism," 
and  they  would  tell  of  how  God  blessed  them,  and  they 
would  claim  the  victory  over  Socialism  as  theirs. 

But  if  Capitalism  is  abolished  and  Socialism  is 
triumphant,  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  ecclesiastical 
leaders  will  claim  the  victor}^  as  theirs.  So  has  it  been 
through  the  centuries.  They  have  defended  despotism 
and  fawned  on  tyrants,  and  bolstered  up  decaying  social 
systems,  as  long  as  these  have  lasted  ;  and  then  when 
the  Lord  of  Life  in  Human  History,  the  Spirit  and 
Passion  of  Democracy,  arose  in  spite  of  priest-craft, 
and  state-craft,  and  mammon-worship,  the  church  has 
glorified  herself  as  the  guardian-angel  of  Democracy  I 
And  so  we  may  see  it  again  ! 

Well,  I  ought  to  thoroughly  absolve  the  church  from 
any  responsibility  in  my  education  as  a  Socialist. 
I  ought  to  acknowledge  also  that  wherever  I  have  gone 
over  the  world  heralding  Socialism,  the  clergy  have 
seen  to  it  that  they  were  in  no  way  connected  with  such 
a  "  base  and  ignoble  mission  "  as  mine. 

Not  in  her  theology,  not  in  her  interpretation  of 
social  morality,  not  from  the  lips  of  her  great  orators, 
teachers,  officials,  or  evangelists  did  I  receive  Socialism. 
Socialism  was  to  them  anti-Christ.  Capitalism,  which 
their  religion  and  morals  condoned,  was  to  me  the  Anti- 
Christ. 

4. — My  Soul  and  Capitalism. 

If,  then,  I  tell  you  in  these  pages  how  my  soul  sought 
the  Living  Spirit  That  Is,  and  how  in  my  seekings  I  was 
led  to  Socialism,  it  was  only  as  my  very  being  burst 
through  and  escaped  the  old  that  I  was  born  into  a  new 
ethical  and  spiritual  meaning  to  Life  which  is  the  anti- 
thesis of  Capitalism,  and  runs  at  least  parallel  to,  and 


0  HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 

finds    expression    in,    the    great    world-wide    Socialist 
Movement. 

If  devotion  to  the  God  of  the  Church  means  the 
defence  of  Capitalism,  as  it  apparently  does,  then  must 

1  be  adjudged  infidel  to  that  God  and  that    church. 
And  this  not  on  the  ground  of  mere  opinion,  but  from 
the  deepest    depths  of  all  I  know  to  be  my  soul  or 
spiritual  consciousness. 

For  my  uttermost  spiritual  light  declares  to  me  that 
Capitalism  is  a  wolf  that  devours  the  sheep  :  Capi- 
talism is  Mammonism  socially  and  religiously  en- 
throned :  it  is  the  modern  Pharaoh,  making  the  lives 
of  the  people  bitter  with  hard  bondage. 

From  the  robed  dignitaries  of  ritualism  or  from  the 
uniformed  leaders  of  the  Salvation  Army,  or  from  any 
sect  between  these  two  extremes,  we  have  no  authori- 
tative utterance  that  impeaches  Capitalism  in  the  name 
Of  Christ.  Capitalism  as  a  Social  System  is  secure  from 
such  attack.  Capitalism  which  to  my  soul  is  Anti- 
Christ — is  defended,  supported  and  blessed  by  modern 
Christianity. 


II. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 
1.— Earlier  Experiences. 

I  shall  roughly  sketch  the  main  elements  of  my 
experience  which  preceded  and  finally  culminated  in 
the  Socialist  consciousness.  I  commit  the  account  to 
type  because  I  believe  it  contains  some  universal 
elements  in  the  present  great  social  and  moral  and 
religious  revolution  on  which  the  whole  world  has  en- 
tered ;  because  I  believe  it  voices  the  feelings  of  many 
others  who  are  passing  through  similar  experiences. 

When  I  was  a  lad  about  thirteen  years  of  age  I  had 
an  illumination  arising  from  some  remote  areas  of  my 
being,  which  in  the  light  of  later  reflection,  appears  to 
me  to  have  been  a  natural,  normal  expression  of  the 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 


"  Socialization  of  Personality. "  Is  not  every  human 
being  the  Son  of  Man — the  Soul  of  the  Race  incarnate  ? 
And  if  it  were  not  for  the  dead  hand  of  artificialities  and 
conventions,  of  dead  doctrines,  customs,  and  insti- 
tutions, and  private-property  ideas,  upon  the  very  soul 
of  childhood,  would  not  the  Son  of  Man  appear  as  the 
normal  thing  in  human  consciousness  ?  Does  not  this 
suggest  also  the  true  education  that  is  yet  to  be — 
education  through  original  inspiration.  The  first  dis- 
tinct release  of  my  soul,  the  memory  of  which  still 
brings  me  to. silence  and  tears,  was  a  leading  away  Of 

my  mind  from  merely  personal  concerns  and  feelings 
to  larger  human  and  cosmic  interests. 

2. — i  Enter  the  Ministry. 

The  next  epochal  period  of  my  life  came  when  I 
finally  decided  to  enter  the  ministry  in  the  Methodist 
church.  I  was  a  schoolmaster,  had  been  for  a  period 
with  a  law  firm,  and  felt  drawn  to  the  lecture  platform. 
My  decision  finally  to  become  a  Methodist  preacher 
grew  out  of  the  fact  that  I  was  already  preaching  while 
yet  teaching,  and  that  seemed  the  most  natural  direc- 
tion for  my  social  consciousness  to  take. 

In  this  crisis  there  was  presented  to  me  for  reflection 
and  decision  what  had  been  as  it  were  intuitively 
forced  upon  me  in  the  earlier  experience  to  which  I 
have  referred.  The  question  really  was  this  :  Whether 
my  life  was  to  be  lived  in  following  after  private 
interests  and  personal  ambitions,  or  devoted  to  human 
service.  Whether  there  was  now  to  be  a  larger 
Socialization  of  Personality  in  my  case  or  not  was  now 
a  question  that  I  must  now  decide.  It  must  be  volun- 
tary, a  choice,  a  decision,  an  act  of  the  will. 

The  whole  meaning  of  righteousness  was  not  a  matter 
of  opinions  or  theories,  or  the  development  of  certain 
private  virtues,  or  the  fulfilling  of  certain  religious 
duties  :  but  whether  my  mind  and  heart  and  very  soul 
should  cease  from  merely  personal  values  and  private 


;  HOW    I    BECAME    A   SOCIALIST. 

advantages,  material  or  religious,  and  become  a  centre 
and  organ  of  values  and  advantages  for  humanity. 

When  the  will  finally  functioned  the  human  interest 
and  the  welfare  of  men  and  renounced  the  private 
interests,  I  entered  into  a  singular  exaltation  of  my 
whole  being.  The  missionary  spirit  fell  upon  me,  and 
has  never  left  me.  I  began  to  apply  myself  to  my 
studies  with  intense  zeal  in  order  to  secure  the  weapons 
for  my  warfare,  and  with  a  quiet  happiness  I  knew  I 
was  in  some  way  "  not  my  own,"  but  the  servant  of 
my  brother  men. 

3. — Another  Crisis. 

The  second  year  after  entering  the  theological 
seminary,  I  became  alarmed  at  the  species  of  paralysis 
that  had  failed  upon  my  moral  energies  and  spiritual 
enthusiasm.  After  reflecting  over  the  matter,  I  left 
the  Institute  and  went  away  to  a  small  country 
pastorate,  and  there  gave  myself  up  to  prayer  and 
meditation,  and  service  to  the  people,  looking  for 
Light  and  seeking  for  Truth.  After  a  long  period  of 
waiting,  I  was  again  birthed  into  a  still  deeper  Socializa- 
tion of  Personality. 

All  other  meanings  to  life  seemed  to  be  eclipsed. 
It  was  not  now  a  question  of  balancing  private  interests 
and  personal  aims  against  human  interests  and  social 
aims.  The  question  before  me  at  this  time  was  how 
totally  and  utterly  life  might  be  made  the  organ  and 
instrument  and  agent  of  Universal  Good,  of  the  King- 
dom of  God  in  the  Earth.  It  was  at  this  time  that  I 
received  the  insight  concerning  the  Personal  Experi- 
ence of  Jesus  which  I  have  treated  in  my  pamphlet 
on  that  subject. 

And  here  also  in  this  isolated  country  village  my 
mind  received  its  first  distinct  illumination  concerning 
the  social  and  economic  and  industrial  significance  of 
the  deepest  spiritual  experience. 

I  began  to  see  that  the  Life  of  the  Free  Spirit  must 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 


find  an  expression  in  economic  facts,  and  that  economic 
relations  do  register  spiritual  and  moral  relationships. 

I  began  to  see  that  our  relations  in  the  struggle  for  a 
livelihood  with  material  resources  are  the  primary  and 
fundamental  measure  of  human  association,  indicating 
its  justice  or  injustice,  its  heaven  or  its  hell. 

Here,  then,  I  received  the  inner  Fire  of  Truth,  which 
broke  into  a  flame  when  in  Chicago,  a  year  or  so  later,  I 
confronted  the  oppressions  of  Capitalism. 

4.— The  Soul's  Revolt  Against  Capitalism. 

My  earlier  religious  experiences  I  have  related  in 
order  to  show  you  the  state  of  mind  in  which  I  was 
introduced  to  the  ravages  of  the  Capitalist  System  of 
industry.  You  will  have  observed  that  the  illuminations 
and  enlargements  of  my  consciousness  were  not 
created  by  pondering  over  doctrines  or  suffering  in 
my  conscience  over  certain  vile  sins.  The  release 
of  my  soul  was  precipitated  out  of  the  Will  in  relation  to 
other  human  lives. 

The  question  was  how  my  interests  and  my  will  con- 
cerning those  interests  should  be  related  to  human 
interests  and  human  welfare. 

It  is  true  I  had  subscribed  to  the  doctrines  of 
Methodism,  but  these  I  had  inherited,  as  it  were.  I  had 
reflectively  considered  them  as  a  series  of  propositions 
and  decided  that  they  were  the  Truth.  I  probably  made 
them  carry  my  spiritual  freightage  for  the  time  being. 
However,  the  revolt  of  my  soul  was  not  so  much 
against  any  set  of  doctrines  or  dogmas.  My  revolt 
was  against  the  actual  practices,  the  real  life,  the  social 
and  business  and  economic  structure  and  operation  of 
civilisation,  which  embodied  and  expressed  the  actual 
beliefs  of  the  people  whatever  their  theories  or  doctrines 
or  professions  were. 

Capitalism  is  not  simply  a  certain  mode  of  owning 
land  and  machinery  and  hiring  wage-labour.  Capitalism 
is  a  plexus  of  social  ideals,  of  commercial  ethics,  of 


10  HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 

business  maxims.    Capitalism  is  a  mental  atmosphere 

of  notions  of  success,  of  class  feelings,  pseudo-aristo- 
cratic and  anti-democratic — in  short,  Capitalism  is,  as 
Karl  Marx  taught,  not  only  the  economic  basis  of  pre- 
sent society,  but  the  whole  superstructure,  of  morals, 
religion,  art,  and  life,  coloured  and  cursed  by  cor- 
respondence to  that  false  economic  basis.  Against  this 
whole  fabric  my  soul  revolted. 

5. — The  Chicago  Pastorate. 

I  went  to  the  Chicago  pastorate  with  my  conscious- 
ness partially  socialized,  as  I  have  indicated.  And  the 
very  first  day,  in  making  my  pastoral  calls,  my  soul 
broke  into  open  revolt  against  Capitalist  Society.  I 
could  relate  to  you  in  detail  to  this  very  day  the  facts 
of  Social  Injustice  that  confronted  me.  I  had  no  name 
for  the  thing  I  saw,  nor  had  I  ever  heard  intelli- 
gently of  Socialism.  The  facts  began  to  march  and 
countermarch  before  me.  It  seemed  as  if  that  procession 
were  marshalled  by  death-heads  and  generalled  by  devils. 

Little  children  imprisoned  in  bleak,  unfriendly 
streets  and  lanes,  running  in  and  out  of  miserable  dens, 
cynically  called  "  homes  "  ;  youths  and  maidens 
hurried  off  in  the  early  morning  to  shops,  factories,  and 
mills — women,  old  and  young,  fighting  in  the  bread- 
battle,  offering  their  labour  on  the  world-market — 
the  armies  of  men,  skilled  and  unskilled,  pouring  out 
the  blood  of  their  labour-power  into  the  mills  of  the 
gain-gods,  there  to  be  ground  into  the  rich  coin  of  the 
fortune-makers  —  old-age,  beaten,  baffled,  still  strug- 
gling on,  compelled  to  live  though  dead — and  back  and 
forth,  and  up  and  down  and  in  and  out  of  this  pro- 
cession of  struggling  humanity  there  flashed  in  high 
lights  the  burnished  armour,  the  proud  equipage,  the 
gaudy  splendour,  the  untold  luxury,  the  glittering 
grandeur  of  wealth — "  A  monster  gorged,  'midst 
starving  population  "  .  .  .  .  And  my  soul  re- 
volted. ...  My  Soul  Revolted  ! 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST.  1 1 

III. 

"TOWARDS  DEMOCRACY." 

I  had  never  been  an  aristocrat  in  this  incarnation. 
That  goes  without  saying.  So  when  this  procession  of 
Mammon  and  the  other  Gain-Gods,  the  plunderers  and 
the  plundered,  marched  before  me,  with  the  death-head 
on  the  flag,  I  had  no  artificial  barriers  to  get  across  in 
order  to  feel  that  my  lot  was  not  with  the  bruisers  but 
with  the  bruised.  I  did  not  have  to  descend  to  meet 
my  brothers  and  comrades  of  the  working-class.  Any 
artificial  aristocracy  that  might  have  poisoned  my  life,7 
had  received  a  powerful  antidote  in  the  Socialization  of/ 
my  Consciousness  to  which  I  have  referred.  And  thff 
first  outcome  of  my  soul's  touch  with  this  hideous  Social 
Injustice  of  the  Capitalist  World  was  to  give  me  a  deep 
but  undefined  unity  of  consciousness  with  the  humanity 
that  suffered  under  that  injustice. 

1.— The  New  Wine. 


The  categories  of  my  religious  experience  and  teach- 
ing expanded  and  then  burst  with  the  New  Wine  of 
Truth  that  poured  in. 

Righteousness  began  to  mean  more  than  the  deepest 
kind  of  personal  virtue  or  isolate  goodness.  It  meant 
also  right  social  and  industrial  relations— and  that 
seemed  impossible  to  Capitalism. 

Justice  I  saw  could  not  be  measured  out  by  the  most 
generous  judge  in  the  courts  of  law.  The  whole  civilisa- 
tion was  unjust— it  was  grounded  in  injustice.  I 
remember  how  ridiculous  it  once  appeared  to  me  to  see 
men  adding  up  accounts  and  testing  and  stamping 
weights  and  measures,  and  "  making  the  balance  just," 
when  I  knew  that  the  whole  society  was  a  gigantic 
gamble  with  commodities  and  with  the  human  beings 
whose  labour-power  was  the  basis  of  it  all  !  A  just 
balance  !  Fie ! 

I  had  read  and  studied  the  Holiness  literature.     A 


12  HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 

sullen  grief  seized  me  when  I  found  that  the  holiness 
expounders  and  leaders  had  never  once  reflected  on  the 
un-holiness  of  the  whole  Social  fabric  in  which  they 
taught.  They  were  defenders  of  the  system — the 
highest  type  of  spiritual  police. 

Holiness  !  I  saw  the  whole  body  sick  and  diseased 
irom  head  to  foot,  "  full  of  wounds,  and  bruises,  and 
putrifying  sores/'  as  old  Isaiah  said  long  ago,  and  for 
the  same  reason.  "  The  hands  of  the  mighty  were  full 
of  blood.'*  There  could  be  no  holiness  for  me  that  was 
not  an  antagonism  to  Capitalism,  and  a  social  recon- 
struction and  an  industrial  renovation — a  "  seeking 
of  Justice  and  relief  of  the  oppressed." 

I  saw  coveteousness,  which  is  idolatry,  glorified,  and 
its  blood-bespattered  gifts  received  into  the  treasuries 
of  the  church.  I  saw  the  Mammon-god  winked  at  and 
consent  given  that  God  and  Mammon  could  be  wor- 
shipped without  conscientious  scruples — Jesus  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding. 

I  saw  that  it  was  acknowledged  as  just,  and  urged  as 
a  virtue,  and  praised  as  a  practice,  to  "  lay  up  treasure 
on  earth,  where  interest  and  profit  and  rent  doth 
accumulate." 

Missions  for  Jesus'  sake  were  carried  on  with  great 
success,  heavily  financed  by  the  profit-mongers,  and 
actually  conducted  by  men  deep  in  the  financial  game 
— men  on  whom  it  never  once  dawned  that  conversion 
to  Christ  could  mean  any  conviction  whatever  con- 
cerning social  wrongs  and  industrial  injustice. 

I  heard  it  boasted  that  souls  of  working-class  men 
and  women,  under  deep  religious  conviction,  had  made 
restitution  of  the  fares  they  had  avoided  to  pay  to 
tram  companies  and  railways.  But  I  never  heard  of  any 
accusation  of  the  tramway  bandits  that  had  plundered 
tens  of  thousands  of  pounds  of  profits  annually  out  of 
the  pockets  of  the  working-class — to  say  nothing  of 
any  restitution  of  their  ill-gotten  gains.  Nor  did  I 
ever  hear  any  accusation  in  New  Testament  terms  of 
those  who  had  "  heaped  treasure  out  of  the  hire  of  the 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST.  13 

labourers,  which  was  by  the  profit-seekers  kept  back  by 
fraud." 

And  as  that  procession  of  human  beings,  marshalled 
under  the  death-head  flag  of  "  Profit !  Profit  !  ! 
Profit !  !  !  "  passed  before  me,  my  soul  revolted. 

My  soul  revolted  against  the  injustice  of  Capitalism's 
imagined  injustice  ;  against  the  unrighteousness  of  its 
righteousness ;  and  against  the  unholiness  of  its 
holiness  that  could  be  at  peace  with  such  almost  un- 
forgivable social  wrongs ;  against  the  un-Christian 
Christianity  that  administered  the  sacrament  of  Him 
who  "  laid  down  His  life  for  the  sheep  "  to  a  civilisa- 
tion that  "  laid  down  the  sheep  for  the  fleece. " 

My  soul  revolted  against  Capitalism.  In  my  Con- 
science it  was  written,  "  Now  is  the  judgment  of  this 
Competitive  System  ;  now  is  the  Prince  of  this  Capitalist 
Age  judged." 

2.— Constructive  insight. 

Revolt  is  only  one  aspect  of  the  soul's  movement 
for  a  new  social  order.  And  so  it  was  in  my  case.  Had 
I  been  born  a  Hebrew  or  a  Hindoo  this  awakening  of 
the  Social  Conscience  within  me  might  have  taken  its 
colour  and  interpretation  from  the  religion  of  Jehovah 
or  Brahm.  But  being  raised  a  Christian,  my  religious 
inheritance  was  the  New  Testament  and  the  Life  and 
Teaching  of  Jesus.  As  I  have  told  you,  I  had  already 
been  pushed  to  deep  soul-experiences  which  had  been 
more  or  less  interpreted  in  New  Testament  terms, 
rather  than  in  Theological  terms — terms  of  Life  rather 
than  of  Dogma.  I  now  began  to  ponder  and  pray  and 
struggle  for  light  as  I  had  never  done  before.  Light  I 
had  to  have.  The  religious  and  spiritual  light  that  could 
be  at  peace  with  Capitalism  was  to  me — darkness. 
"  If  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be  darkness,  how  great  is 
that  darkness."  I  could  never  expose  the  struggle  my 
soul  went  through.  But  I  shall  briefly  run  over  some  of 
the  main  points  of  light  which  broke  as  morning  stars 


14  HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 

upon  my  consciousness,  and  which  have  since  deepened 
and  clarified  and  unified. 


3.— The  Social  Teaching  of  Jesus. 

As  the  injustice  of  Capitalism,  and  the  misery  of  the 
poor,  and  the  unrighteousness  of  the  present  social 
order,  pressed  upon  me,  and  as  I  found  no  spiritual 
response,  or  human  rest,  in  religious  teaching  that  ran 
along  at  the  heels  of  Capitalism's  juggernaut  procession, 
I  turned  to  the  Spirit  of  Truth  within  me  and  to  a 
deeper  and  more  penetrating  search  for  Light  from  the 
Life  and  Teaching  of  Jesus  than  existing  religion 
offered. 

And  the  first  thing  that  deeply  impressed  me  was  the 
social  and  economic  significance  of  the  Teachings  of 
Jesus.  I  cannot  here  elaborate  what  I  mean  by  this, 
for  I  am  stating  convictions  briefly.  The  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  I  saw  was  a  code  of  social  duties,  so  to  speak, 
a  revelation  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  Social 
Justice  and  human  fellowship  for  this  our  every-day 
world.  Such  a  passage  as  that  beginning  with  the 
phrase,  "  No  man  can  serve  two  masters/'  is  nothing 
short  of  a  brief  but  comprehensive  Social  Program. 
It  is  almost  impossible  to  find  in  the  whole  Sermon  on 
the  Mount  anything  that  could  give  an  ecclesiastical 
or  theological  colour  to  these  sayings.  They  are  ethical, 
moral,  social.  There  is  actually  an  emphatic  warning 
in  the  sixth  chapter  against  the  public  exhibition  of  the 
least  formal  religiousness.  And  later  He  insists  on 
actual  living  "  fruits  "  as  the  only  proof  or  indication 
that  a  life  is  the  life  of  goodwill  and  brotherhood.  If  a 
tree  has  leaves  and  fruit  on  it  in  due  season  why  does 
it  need  a  sign  up  that  it  is  living  and  bearing  ? 

When  we  come  to  even  the  more  mystical  teaching 
in  the  Gospel  of  John,  we  find  that  instead  of  the  Social 
significance  being  modified,  it  is  intensified.  The  ulti- 
mate and  only  test  of  discipleship  is  Love.  "  By  this 
shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples  that  ye 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST.  15 

love  one  another  as  I  have  loved  you.  He  prays  that 
they  all  may  be  one.  He  says  :  "I  lay  down  my  life 
for  the  sheep.  Therefore  doth  the  Father  love  me." 
"  And  as  the  Father  hath  sent  me  even  so  send  I  you," 
to  be  social  redeemers  of  humanity,  feeding  your  life 
away  to  the  flock.  "  He  that  saveth  his  life  shall  lose  it, 
but  he  that  loseth  his  life  shall  save  it."  Every  man  of 
them  was  to  re-duplicate  the  Christ-Spirit  for  the  race 
according  to  the  needs  of  his  generation. 

When  he  depicts  the  judgment  of  persons  and 
churches  and  nations  and  political  parties,  there  is  not 
a  single  word  about  beliefs,  doctrines,  dogmas,  church- 
membership,  baptisms,  theologies,  or  any  other  thing 
or  thought  that  has  been  so  emphasised  by  the  priest- 
hoods of  the  race.  Not  a  word.  The  judgment  is  de- 
clared on  the  basis  of  how  you  have  stood  in  relation  to 
the  physical  and  social  miseries  of  your  fellow-men — 
their  hunger,  and  need,  and  wretchedness,  and 
bondage.  Let  those  who  may  explain  it  away  :  there  it 
stands,  until  all  such  suffering  is  abolished.  Righteous- 
ness, love,  the  Christ-life,  devotion  to  the  Will  of  God, 
can  find  no  final  test  except  that  which  Jesus  Himself 
revealed  in  His  own  life — absolute  sefiess  devotion  to 
Humanity. 

If  we  consider  the  great  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God  which  He  said  He  came  to  declare  :  just  look  at 
the  opening  announcement  :  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
is  upon  me  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  a 
glad  message  to  the  poor  people  ;  he  hath  sent  me  to 
heal  those  broken  in  spirit,  to  proclaim  deliverance  to 
captives,  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  and  to  set  at 
liberty  them  that  are  bruised."  Surely  if  ever  there 
was  a  Social  Mission,  here  it  is.  No  revolutionist  that 
ever  lived  had  such  a  sweeping  Social  Vision  for 
Human  Betterment  and  the  deliverance  of  humanity  in 
this  world  to  all  the  possible  significance  that  human 
life  is  capable  of. 

At  this  time  it  was  deeply  impressed  upon  me,  the 
supreme  place  of  importance  that  Jesus  placed  upon 


16  HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 

these  "  teachings  "  or  "  words  "  or  "  sayings."  Plans 
of  Salvation  and  Systems  of  Theology  have  greatly 
obscured  these  teachings.  We  have  had  Paulism, 
Calvinism,  Methodism,  and  the  rest.  How  the  beaten, 
sad-hearted,  oppressed  world  aches  this  very  hour 
for  the  real  application  and  realization  of  the  teaching 
of  Jesus. 

I  do  not  believe  that  the  living  soul  finds  rest  by 
works,  but  by  a  living  faith,  that  discovers  and  acknow- 
ledges and  enters  into  oneness  with  the  Father.  But  a 
man  is  not  justified  by  faith  unless  his  faith  makes  him 
just.  "  Why  call  ye  me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the 
things  Which  I  say."  "  Every  man  that  heareth  these 
sayings  of  mine  and  doeth  them  is  like  a  man  who 
builds  his  house  upon  a  rock — he  that  heareth  and 
doeth  not  is  a  foolish  man,  building  on  sand."  "  The 
words  I  speak  unto  you  are  life."  "  If  ye  love  me  keep 
my  words  and  ye  shall  receive  the  Comforter — the 
Spirit  of  Truth.!"  "  If  a  man  love  me  he  will  keep  my 
sayings,  and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come 
unto  him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him  :  and  the  word 
which  ye  hear  is  not  mine,  but  the  Father's  which  sent 
me."  Power  in  prayer,  according  to  Jesus,  depends  on 
these  teachings  abiding  in  us.  And  I  say  that  these 
teachings  of  Jesus  are  the  most  radical  social  utter- 
ances, and  can  never  fit  with  Capitalism. 

Thus  was  my  hunger  and  thirst  rewarded.  I  saw  that 
the  whole  Social  Vision  and  Program  of  Jesus  made 
Capitalism  an  outlaw. 

I  saw  that  all  the  Teachings  of  Jesus,  spiritual  or 
social,  were  diametrically  opposed  to  the  ideals,  and 
theories,  and  basic  practices  of  Capitalism. 

I  saw  that  the  slightest  embodiment  in  one's  spirit 
of  the  mind  of  Jesus  to  the  sacred  lives  about  us  would 
reveal  Capitalism  as  the  wolf  that  devours  the  sheep. 

I  saw  that  by  Christ's  interpretation  of  the  judgment, 
not  only  the  Capitalist  system,  but  the  professing 
Christian  Church,  is  weighed  in  the  balance  and  found 
wanting.  For  the  church  is  not  ministering  to  the 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST.  !^ 

necessity  of  human  lives,  bringing  to  them  the  Jus- 
tice, and  Freedom,  and  abundant  Life  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  but  is  bulwarking  by  silence  and  open  defence 
this  brutal  Capitalist  Society,  that  fattens  and  battens  in 
its  immeasurable  luxury  and  extravagance  out  of  the 
unpaid  earnings  of  the  working-class. 

IV. 
THE  SEARCH  FOR  A  PRINCIPLE. 

Such  a  life  as  the  Life  of  Jesus,  and  such  Teachings  as 
he  uttered,  culminating  in  his  tragic  death  at  the  hands 
of  the  ruling  class  in  church  and  state,  must  have  some 
fundamental  principle  as  its  root,  and  norm  and  centre. 

1.— The  Eternal  Unity. 

And  I  saw  that  the  very  essence  and  heart  of  the  Life 
of  the  Son  of  Man  was  absolute  and  utter  renunciation 
of  merely  private  and  personal  interests,  and  the 
acceptance  of  his  personal  life  as  the  organ,  the  voice, 
the  expression,  the  incarnation,  of  the  uttermost  divine 
interests,  and  human  advantages,  as  seen  in  the  Light 
of  Truth,  and  Love  and  Freedom.  This  was  the  Will  of 
the  Father. 

Some  have  called  this  self-sacrifice.  But  that  is  not 
correct.  The  very  term  carries  with  it  an  element  of 
negation  and  asceticism.  This  movement  of  the  Soul 
from  the  limited  private  self  to  the  universal  is  Self- 
Realization.  It  is  coming  to  the  fulness  of  the  Stature 
of  Man. 

The  spiritual  unity  with  humanity  which  Jesus 
recognised  and  expressed  in  his  individuality  was  not 
the  result  of  the  condescension  of  greatness  to 
mediocrity,  of  high  to  low,  of  the  good  to  the  evil,  of  a 
spiritual  aristocrat  to  the  defiling  touch  of  the  mob.  He 
felt  that  he  was  actually  one  with  Humanity.  Their 
real  life  was  his  life.  There  is  only  One  Life.  There  was 
nothing  else  for  him  to  be,  nor  for  them  to  be,  but  that 
Life.  Thus  denying  the  limited  view-point  of  merely 


1 8  HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 

private,  and  personal,  and  temperamental,  and  local, 
and  racial  interests,  he  incarnated  social,  universal, 
human  values,  and  meanings,  and  interests,  and  free- 
doms. The  uttermost  human  meaning  is  the  divine. 
Thus  he  was  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Son  of  Man. 
Thus  was  he  Christ-ed. 

It  was  then  given  to  me  to  see  that  the  secret  power 
•of  the  Life  and  Mission  of  Jesus  was  not  an  isolated  or 
personal  affair  confined  to  himself  alone.  That  power 
and  meaning  is  universal  and  cosmic.  His  life  is  a 
revelation  of  the  fundamental  principle  of  man's  life 
as  an  individual,  in  a  society  of  individuals  ;  in  a  world 
that  is  not  a  dead  aggregate,  but  a  living  organism. 

When  this  light  deepened  in  my  heart  I  saw  that 
personal  spiritual  Illumination  and  cosmic  release  of  the 
Eternal  Life  that  one  Is,  was  not  something  to  attain 
as  a  thing-in-itself.  It  is  only  possible  by  the  identifica- 
tion of  the  individual  with  Totality,  and  the  incarna- 
tion in  the  individual  of  the  human  urge  for  satisfac- 
tion and  Freedom,  and  the  abandonment  of  life  to  the 
realization  of  Universal  Human  Freedom. 

Thus,  at  the  deepest  reach  of  my  most  silent  penetra- 
ting prayer  and  yearning  for  Truth,  I  found  my  soul 
driven  outwards,  as  it  were,  to  the  Socialist  Cause.  The 
summit  of  my  spiritual  exaltation  was  in  the  lowly 
commonplace  of  the  rough  struggle  of  the  Working- 
class  for  their  emancipation  from  the  Darkness  and 
Injustice  of  Capitalism. 

The  uttermost  effort  of  the  intellect  to  find  a  philo- 
sophy of  Individual  Life  brought  me  square  upon  my 
feet  into  the  raw,  real,  actual,  human  fact,  there  to 
relate  my  Will  as  the  organ  of  the  Universal  Good- 
Will,  and  to  make  my  Life,  in  its  way,  an  instrument  or 
agent  for  the  Social  and  Economic  Freedom  of  Man- 
kind. 

2.— The  Socialization  of  Personality. 

Socialism  proposes  that  the  basic  industrial  equip- 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST.  ig 

ment  of  land  and  machinery,  which  the  people  must 
have  and  use  for  life  and  labour,  shall  be  collectively 
owned  and  democratically  organised  for  the  freedom 
Of  all,  instead  of  being  privately  owned  and  pluto- 
cratically  managed  for  the  private  profit  Of  the  few,  and 
thus  making  misery  for  the  many. 

Now  just  as  the  present  private-property  scramble 
and  gamble  of  Capitalism  has  accentuated,  and  nur- 
tured, and  intensified,  and  exalted  the  egoistic,  selfish, 
and  anti-social  forces  of  human  life  in  business  and 
even  in  morals  and  religion  :  so  Socialism  will  release, 
and  develop,  and  glorify  the  altruistic,  brotherly, 
and  social  elements  of  human  life  in  all  its  phases. 

And  the  individual  Socialist  of  this  transition  period, 
standing  in  intellectual,  and  moral,  and  political  con- 
viction against  this  Capitalism,  from  which  personally 
he  cannot  extricate  himself,  and  in  which  he  must  still 
live  ;  and  standing  for  a  Socialism  which  concretely  he 
must  wait  on  Society  as  a  whole  to  inaugurate — this 
individual  Socialist  passes  through  a  personal  psycho- 
logical experience,  a  social  "  new-birth,"  in  his  mind 
and  spirit  towards  all  new  life. 

This  social  "  new-birth  "  might  not  inaptly  be  called 
the  Socialization  Of  Personality — an  experience  in  the 
Socialist  man  corresponding  to  the  socialization  of 
industry,  which  is  the  Socialist  program  in  the  material 
world. 

The  eventual  outcome  of  this  experience  is  without 
doubt  to  release  the  Social  Man — the  Son  of  Man  men- 
tioned in  the  bibles  of  the  race.  This  progress  of 
Socialization  of  Personality  begins  when  a  man  ceases 
from  merely  private  interests,  and  begins  to  be  the 
register,  in  his  body,  or  mind,  of  the  ultimate  human 
value.  As  soon  as  his  mind  begins  to  think  of  his 
interests  as  being  locked  inextricably  with  the  larger 
interests  of  a  whole  class  of  sufferers,  who  suffer  from 
the  same  socially  inflicted  wrongs — then  begins  the 
Socialization  of  Personality.  As  soon  as  this  process 
begins  the  Capitalistic  consciousness  is  punctured. 


20  HOW    I    BECAME    A    SOCIALIST. 

Peter  Burro wes,  in  his  great  "  Revolutionary 
Essays/'  gives  us  this  sublime  paragraph  : — 

"  Human  wisdom  may  be  said  to  consist  of  a  man's 
ability  to  separate  biography  from  history :  while 
human  virtue  is  the  will,  based  upon  such  ability,  to 
choose  the  larger  social  interest  :  and  Socialism  is  the 
sum  in  practice  of  such  ability,  and  such  will-of-the- 
larger-life,  in  national  and  world  administration/' 

When  we  finally  awake  from  the  horrible  nightmare 
of  Capitalism,  with  its  unnatural  accentuation  of  pri- 
vate-property interests,  developing  and  nourishing 
the  corresponding  selfishness  and  egoistic  states  of 
mind  :  when  the  Socialist  Commonwealth  shall  have 
made  a  social  form  and  body  in  which  the  race-soul  can 
find  a  home  and  express  itself :  then  the  simple,  easy, 
glorious  Truth  of  our  Unity  with  one  another  and  with 
God  shall  appear,  and  a  fellowship  of  souls,  from 
which  we  are  now  suffering  exiles,  will  be  commonplace. 

There  will  be  "no  temple  therein  "  ;  religion  will 
not  be  a  thing  of  days,  and  ceremonies,  and  forms,  and 
functions,  a  sort  of  excrescence  in  the  social  body  ;  it 
will  be  the  rugged  health,  and  rosy  glow,  and  inspired 
glory  of  the  common  life,  lived  in  Justice,  Brotherhood, 
and  Freedom. 


The    Impending    Social  Revolution. 

I. 
REVOLUTION  DEFINED. 

A  revolution  occurs  in  any  field  where  a  new  principle 
displaces  an  old  principle.  Thus,  a  religious  revolution 
is  precipitated  when  the  seat  of  authority  in  matters 
religious  is  changed  from  a  book  or  a  priesthood,  and 
acknowledged  in  the  heart  or  conscience  of  the  indi- 
vidual. A  political  revolution  occurs  when  the  functions 
of  government  are  transferred  from  the  arbitrary 
powers  of  kings  or  kaisers  or  sultans,  and  placed  in  the 
mandate  of  the  people.  An  industrial  revolution  hap- 
pened when  the  power  of  steam  was  applied  to 
machinery  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  and  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  other  day 
naval  critics  declared  that  the  introduction  of  wireless 
telegraphy  and  submarines  would  cause  a  revolution 
in  naval  warfare.  The  airship  will  precipitate  another 
revolution  in  military  procedure.  Should  Sir  William 
Ramsay  discover  the  method  of  transmuting  silver  into 
gold  there  would  be  precipitated  a  revolution  in  the 
method  of  paying  national  debts. 

1.— The  Social  Revolution. 

But  no  revolution  has  ever  occurred  in  human  his- 
tory comparable  in  any  respect  with  that  upon  which 
we  have  now  entered.  It  is  so  great  because  it  is  a 
revolution  in  the  economic  relations  of  men.  .The 
relations  of  men  in  bread-getting  are  fundamental, 
basic.  And  the  social  revolution  of  our  time  involves 
the  application  of  a  new  principle  in  the  relations  of 
men  to  one  another  in  getting  their  living,  in  the  use  of 
the  land  and  machinery.  Such  a  revolution  is 
virtually  a  new  dispensation  in  the  life  of  humanity. 


2  THE   IMPENDING   SOCIAL   REVOLUTION. 

Social  ownership  by  the  whole  people  of  the  basic 
equipment  of  land  and  machinery  is  the  new  principle 
destined  to  take  the  place  of  private  ownership  by  the 
few.  And  co-operative  use  and  administration  of  this 
equipment  is  the  new  principle  in  the  relations  of  bread- 
getting,  destined  to  take  the  place  of  competitive  or 
monopolistic  use  and  administration  for  private  profit. 

To  educate  the  working-class  to  these  two  new  prin- 
ciples in  the  one  Gospel  of  Socialism,  to  summon  the 
conscience  of  humanity  to  the  righteousness  of  the  new 
regime,  and  to  arouse  the  moral  and  social  energies  of 
the  people  to  a  united  effort  to  put  these  principles  into 
full  operation — this  is  the  object  of  the  revolutionary 
movement. 

2.— Social  Revolution,  Not  Mere  Reform. 

By  keeping  in  mind  that  a  new  principle  destroys  the 
old  in  fulfilling  it,  we  shall  be  saved  from  confounding 
the  moral  and  political  outlook  of  the  Social  Revolu- 
tion with  any  mere  deepening  of  existing  moral  ideals 
or  with  any  extension,  however  great,  of  individual 
philanthropy  or  public  charity. 

So  also  we  shall  no  longer  confuse  the  issues  of  the 
social  revolution  with  mere  social  reform,  however 
desirable.  The  social  revolution  comes  not  to  mend 
the  capitalist  system,  but  to  end  it.  No  statesman,  who 
is  wise,  puts  the  new  wine  into  old  economic  bottles  or 
effete  systems,  or  new  patches  on  the  old  and  worn-out 
social  garments.  Every  little  social  reform  seems  for 
the  moment  so  encouraging  that  it  saps  the  revolution- 
ary energy  of  many.  The  working-class  vote  is  baited 
and  caught.  Time  wears  on.  The  workers  toil  on.  The 
exploitation  continues.  The  axe  has  not  been  laid  to 
the  root  of  the  tree.  Taxation  that  looks  more  just, 
schemes  for  the  unemployed,  anti-sweating  laws,  trade- 
union  victories — all  are  good,  all  necessary,  all  probably 
inevitable  in  the  transition  period.  But  the  hurt  of 
the  people  is  not  healed.  However  tremendous 


THE   IMPENDING   SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  3 

the  task,  however  titanic  the  effort,  nothing  but  the 
overthrow  of  Capitalism  can  deliver  the  people. 

Social  reforms,  religious  revivals,  political  up- 
heavals, scientific  achievements,  which  leave  the  basis 
of  the  present  social  order  virtually  intact — each  and  all 
will  fail  to  make  a  free  world. 

Except  this  civilisation  be  born  again  we  cannot 
enter  the  next  phase  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  That 
which  is  born  of  the  flesh  of  Capitalism  is  Capitalism. 
That  which  is  born  of  the  new  spirit  is  of  the  kingdom  of 
the  free.  Marvel  not  that  I  say  unto  you,  Ye  must  be 
socially  born  again. 

3.— The  Revolution  at  Our  Doors. 


This  revolution  is  now  on.  We  do  not  have  to  pro- 
phesy that  it  shall  be.  It  is  here.  We  have  already 
entered  upon  it.  To  the  conservative  classes  the 
revolution  has  been  coming  as  a  thief  in  the  night. 
But  the  birth-throes  thereof  have  been  given  to  warn 
us  for  half  a  century.  It  now  begins  to  disclose  itself 
as  the  conscious  hope  and  task  of  the  whole  working- 
class  of  the  world.  And  it  advances  rightfully  to  claim 
the  conscience  of  men  against  all  the  opposition  of  the 
perverted  moral  ideas  and  pseudo-religions  of 
Capitalism. 

The  spirit  of  the  revolution  is  already  disturbing  the 
peace  of  Capitalistic  religion  in  the  organised  churches. 
It  is  a  menace  and  a  pest  to  both  the  Capitalistic  political 
parties.  It  is  molesting  the  orthodoxy  of  the  old  trade 
unionist.  It  is  about  to  claim  the  co-operative  move- 
ment as  its  natural  child  and  ally.  "  Votes  for 
Women  "  is  not  an  end,  but  an  equipment  of  our 
mothers  and  wives  and  sisters  to  do  battle  royal  in  the 
great  Social  Revolution  and  after.  The  revolution  has 
already  begun  to  answer  the  bitter  cry  of  the  children. 
A  little  child  may  lead  us.  The  dove  of  peace  has  fled 
the  peace  conferences  of  Capitalism's  armed  camps,  and 
now  hovers  over  the  international  congresses  of  the 


4  THE   IMPENDING   SOCIAL    REVOLUTION. 

revolutionary  movement  of  the  working-classes.  The 
physical  need  of  humanity,  crying  for  just  conditions  of 
life  and  labour  ;  the  intellect  of  the  race  seeking  for 
order ;  the  soul  and  conscience  of  man  hungering  for 
freedom  and  brotherhood — all  begin  to  fed  the  oncom- 
ing tide  of  the  new  social  order.  Behold,  it  is  at  our 
very  doors  !  A  harvest  of  the  ages  is  at  hand  ! 


II. 
THE  SLAVERY  OF  THE  AGES. 

It  used  to  be  the  custom  of  great  preachers  to  dangle 
the  souls  of  men  over  the  very  flames  of  hell,  or  to  hold 
them  up  in  the  fierce  light  of  the  Last  Day  of  Judg- 
ment, and  to  accentuate  the  effect  by  dilating  on  the 
uncertainty  of  life  and  the  certainty  and  proximity  of 
death.  This  undoubtedly  had  the  desired  effect  on 
millions  of  people.  Our  tame,  modern,  scientific, 
reasoned  existence  has  no  terrors  or  immensities  which 
the  mind  can  face,  so  that  it  may  be  lifted  out  of  its 
contemptible  mediocrities,  and  its  petty  personal  con- 
cerns, so  that  it  might  face  a  really  vast  situation.  I 
have  sometimes  felt  a  nausea  as  I  have  looked  into  the 
faces  before  me  and  read  the  infinitesimal  private 
interests  that  imprisoned  the  people,  so  that  it  was 
psychologically  impossible  for  them  to  even  tem- 
porarily entertain  a  large  human  problem.  Sometimes 
I  have  wished  for  the  "  good  old  days  "  so  that  I  might 
dangle  them  awhile  in  the  light  of  Inferno,  or  the  Judg- 
ment, so  that  they  might  look  at  the  sweep  of  history, 
and  take  a  real  insight  from  some  historic  generalisa- 
tion without  instantly  wondering  what  their  ignorant 
next-door  neighbour  would  say,  or  whether  they  would 
loose  a  customer  by  it,  or  whether  it  would  add  a  half- 
penny on  the  rates.  Surely  we  are  a  contemptible 
spawn ! 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  state  the  simplest  and 
most  patent  observations  on  human  life  or  human 
history  without  gashing  the  sensitive  petty  private 
interests  of  many  respectable  imbeciles.  One  could 


THE   IMPENDING    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  5 

wish  for  some  holiday  of  the  intellect  when  we  might 
present  as  in  a  play,  or  in  a  pageant,  our  real  ideas, 
so  that  they  might,  at  least,  get  a  hearing,  even  though 
not  to  be  taken  seriously — since  shortly  we  were  all  to 
come  back  to  our  deary  ignorance  and  out  of  that 
delightful  holiday  where  we  spoke  the  Truth  in  play 
or  pageant ! 

It  is  well  that  Immortality  is  only  accorded  to  those 
who  perceive  Truth  and  Freedom  and  Eternal  Delight. 
If  it  were  otherwise — if  Death  did  not  gather  his  daily 
harvest — the  earth  would  be  stinking  with  the  ancient 
slime  of  Ignorance,  of  our  elders  and  superiors  still 
refusing  surrender  to  Light  and  Progress,  and 
endeavouring  to  shackle  the  race  with  their  age-long 
lies.  0  blessed  Death  I  We  thank  thee  for  the  harvests 
ihat  thou  hast  gathered  ! 

Well.  This  is  a  long  preamble  apparently  irrelevant 
to  the  theme.  But  the  mind  of  the  race  needs  a  jolt, 
which  indeed  I  shall  not  offer,  but  is  hinted  in  a  few 
main  principles  of  this  pamphlet.  I  want  to  cut  history 
in  cross-sections  and  look  straight  at  its  structure. 
I  shall  weep  no  tears.  I  shall  look  and  report  what  the 
cold  glance  perceives.  And  when  you  look  at  cross- 
sections  of  history  and  make  sweeping  generalisations, 
you  omit  exceptions,  and  you  are  seemingly  false  to 
some  smaller  viewpoints. 

1.— The  Robbery  of  the  Workers. 

The  most  cursory  reading  of  the  history  of  empires 
and  civilisations  may  easily  precipitate  one  into  the  mood 
of  old  Omar  Khayyam,  when  he  declared  that  what- 
ever being  was  orignally  responsible  for  the  dark 
tragedy  of  history  should  be  made  to  fall  down  as  a 
sinner  before  the  human  race,  and  with  deep  and  full 
confession  of  the  crime  against  us,  ask  our  forgiveness. 
The  common  practice,  we  are  aware,  is  quite  the  op- 
posite. Let  us  proceed  to  look  over  the  pages  of  his- 
tory, and  read  the  large  handwriting  which  he  may  read 
runs. 


6  THE    IMPENDING   SOCIAL    REVOLUTION. 

Never  has  there  lived  a  working-class  that  was  not 
legally  and  respectably  robbed.  The  job  has  always 
been  done  beautifully,  with  due  ornamentation  of 
dignity,  and  we  might  say  prayerfully  and  religiously. 

I  repeat.  Never  in  all  the  history  of  the  human  race, 
in  its  organised  civilisations,  have  the  toiling  peoples 
received  the  product  of  their  labour. 

That  is  the  first  never.  The  history  of  the  human 
race  is  an  unceasing  story  of  how  the  product  of  the  toil 
of  the  workers  has  been  perpetually  filched  from  them, 
and  they  themselves,  although  producing  all  wealth, 
reduced  to  penury  and  slavery.  The  great  masses  of  the 
people,  generation  after  generation,  have  been  held  in 
helpless  servitude  to  the  powerful  and  privileged 
classes.  This  statement  needs  some  concrete  examples. 
And  the  mass  of  matter  to  prove  the  statement  is  so 
great  that  it  would  fill  volumes.  We  select  but  a  few 
scattered  pages. 

The  history  of  the  primitive  man  shows  that  even 
before  the  dawn  of  civilisation  man  was  the  prey  of  man. 
The  Assyrian  kings,  back  in  the  dim  past,  boasted  of 
the  number  of  the  slaves  they  captured.  The  laws  of 
Manu  in  ancient  Hindostan  recognise  slavery  as  the 
basis  of  society.  Alexander  the  Great,  in  a  fit  of 
temper  sold  into  slavery  30,000  inhabitants  of  the  Greek 
city  of  Thebes.  Aristotle  says  that  in  Athens,  700  B.C., 
the  poor  were  in  absolute  slavery  to  the  rich  who  con- 
trolled the  land.  The  actual  material  glory  in  the  age 
of  Pericles  was  the  product  of  slave  labour.  In 
Delos,  10,000  slaves  were  sold  in  a  single  day.  Rome 
employed  slave  labour  on  the  most  gigantic  scale  ever 
known  in  history.  The  overstocked  slave-market  was  a 
boon  to  the  Roman  Capitalists.  Croesus,  the  Roman 
Rockefeller,  made  his  fortune  out  of  the  work  of  these 
helpless,  landless  men.  Great  Caesar  took  thousands, 
of  Gauls  to  Rome  and  sold  them  into  servitude  to 
noble  patricians. 

The  Barons  of  the  Middle  Ages  continued  the  crime. 
They  traded  the  serfs  as  land  and  cattle.  The  slavery  of 


THE    IMPENDING    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  7 

Englishmen,  in  the  early  part  of  the  iQth  century,  in 
the  manufacturing  cities  of  the  north,  is  only  paralleled 
for  outrage  by  the  slavery  of  the  negro  in  the  United 
States  during  the  same  period.  The  trade  in  slaves  in 
America  ran  up  to  over  £3,000,000  annually.  The  slave 
markets  were  crowded,  and  great  fortunes  were  lost  and 
won  in  this  respectable  gamble  over  human  flesh.  In 
the  memory  of  men  now  living  it  was  a  crime  to  teach 
a  negro  to  read  or  write.  In  this  respect  modern  Chris- 
tian nations  were  more  devilish  than  the  ancients,  who 
never  forbade  the  education  of  the  slaves. 

Romaine  Patterson  says  :  "  Every  state  fought  for 
liberty  against  every  other  state,  but  within  each  state 

there  existed  a  class  to  whom  liberty  was  denied 

It  mattered  not  by  what  name  the  state  was  known. 
The  slavery  which  formed  the  main  basis  of  wealth  of 
Babylonian,  Egyptian,  and  Persian  kings  formed  like- 
wise the  main  source  of  the  wealth  of  the  Athenian 

and  Roman  Republics a  system  of  servile 

labour  was  consolidated,  elaborated  and  prolonged 
throughout  the  history  of  all  the  great  empires  and 
republics  of  the  ancient  world,  and  it  became  the  source 
of  their  wealth/' 

And  the  tragedy  ends  not.  In  one  English  city  I 
saw  a  mob  of  men,  the  fragment  of  20,000  unemployed 
— landless,  tool-less,  friendless — living  or  dying  in  a 
victimage  more  severe  than  chattel  slavery.  I  have 
seen  the  same  in  New  York  and  Chicago.  Whether  in 
the  old  world  or  the  New,  right  now,  the  working- 
classes  are  systematically  robbed  of  the  major  portion 
Of  the  product  Of  their  toil.  At  this  very  moment 
millions  of  human  beings  of  our  own  religion  and  lan- 
guage and  kin  are  ekeing  out  the  miserable  existence  of 
unowned  slaves  ;  hundreds  of  thousands  cannot  sell 
their  labour  to  the  masters  of  the  world  at  any  price  ; 
men,  women,  and  children  consume  their  lives  away  in 
a  bitter  struggle  to  live,  while  wealth  is  being  pro- 
duced in  uncounted  millions. 


THE    IMPENDING    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION. 

2.— The  Secret  of  Exploitation. 

During  all  these  long  ages  the  labour  of  the  people 
has  been  wonderfully  productive,  increasing  more  and 
more  until  the  present  time.  There  has  been  no  poverty 
of  nature,  no  poverty  of  the  products  of  labour,  no 
poverty  in  the  skill  and  muscle  of  the  workers.  But 
the  ruling  and  privileged  classes  have  possessed  them- 
selves of  that  which  they  never  earned.  They  have 
taken  it  from  the  surplus  product  of  the  working-classes 
of  the  world. 

These  industrial  masters  and  oppressors  of  the  people 
in  all  the  ages  secured  and  perpetuated  their  mastery 
and  oppression  by  one  simple  economic  condition, 
viz. :  They  controlled  the  natural,  material  sources  of 
the  earth,  and  industrial  opportunities  and  equipment, 
and  utilised  these  resources  for  their  own  private 
enrichment.  Thus  poverty  and  slavery  have  been  in- 
evitable to  the  many. 

The  irresistible  force  of  sex-energy,  planted  im- 
movably at  the  very  roots  of  human  existence,  poured 
its  numberless  millions  of  human  beings  upon  the  face 
of  the  earth. 

Once  born,  the  strongest  force  in  the  breast  of  these 
millions  is  the  love  of  life. 

Life  is  impossible  except  through  access  to  the  earth 
and  its  gifts,  as  produced  by  human  labour. 

But  the  earth  and  its  products  and  the  mechanical 
equipment  for  labour  these  millions  found  already  in  the 
private  possession  of  the  strong  and  privileged  classes. 

And  thus,  rather  than  leap  into  fire  or  wrater,  or  over 
the  rocks,  or  perish  of  hunger,  the  love  of  life  mastered 
these  millions.  They  remained  alive,  but  on  the  only 
condition  possible— viz.,  as  the  slaves  and  hirelings  of  the 
few  who  controlled  the  earth  and  the  fulness  thereof. 

3.— Man's  inhumanity  to  Man. 

The     history     of      man's      inhumanity     to     man 
one  long,  terrible  tale  of  unmitigated  cruelty,  brutal 


THE   IMPENDING   SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  <> 

oppression,  and  unforgivable  outrage  upon  the  bodies 
and  minds  and  souls  of  the  teeming  millions.  Rather 
than  die,  they  lived  a  living  death  under  the  dominion 
and  at  the  mercy  of  those  who  owned  the  earth. 

The  private  ownership  by  the  few  of  the  sources  of 
physical  existence,  for  ail— this  is  the  one  abiding  base  of 
all  slavery,  from  the  days  of  the  Pharaohs  to  modern 
Capitalism.  The  empires  of  Babylon,  Persia,  and  Egypt, 
and  the  Republics  of  Greece  and  Rome,  were  all  built 
upon  the  bleeding  backs  of  baffled,  degraded,  and  terror- 
stricken  human  beings,  by  virtue  of  this  principle. 
And  this  record  of  ancient  history  finds  its  continuance 
through  Middle  Age  serfdom  and  the  chattel  slavery  of 
Britain  and  America  up  to  the  nineteenth  century. 
But  the  sad  story  does  not  end  there.  The  present 
chapters  of  the  long  drawn-out  affliction  of  the  enslaved 
working-classes  may  now  be  read  in  the  daily  records  of 
twentieth-century  Capitalism,  with  its  sweating,  un- 
employment, and  labour  wars,  in  the  accounts  of 
poverty-stricken  multitudes  exiled  from  the  land  and 
beseiged  in  the  unwholesome  streets  and  alleys  of  our 
great  industrial  centres.  Just  yesterday  you  may  have 
read  in  one  column  of  the  daily  Press  of  women,  leaving 
their  babes  in  single-room  tenements,  going  off  to  make 
paper  boxes  for  us  at  one  shilling  and  sixpence  per  gross, 
and  by  working  seventy  to  seventy-five  hours  a  week 
they  earned  a  miserable  55.  a  week.  In  the  next  column 
we  read  that  an  Earl  dies  leaving  an  estate  in  Lanca- 
shire worth  £4,000,000,  including  70,000  acres  of  land 
and  urban  property  bringing  in  a  huge  rent-roll. 

Take  a  cross-section  of  human  history  in  any  country 
from  Nebuchadnezzar  to  Marcus  Aurelius,  from  Marcus 
Aurelius  to  Louis  XIV.,  from  Louis  XIV.  to  President 
Roosevelt  or  Edward  VII.,  and  the  horror  of  the 
poverty  and  desperate  struggle  of  the  toiling  multitudes 
has  only  one  cause — the  control  by  the  few  of  the  sources 
Of  life  God  gave  to  all.  This  is  the  base  of  all  tyranny. 
This  is  the  ground  of  all  slavery.  This  is  the  one  root 
unrighteousness  of  human  history. 


10  THE    IMPENDING    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION. 

Privately  own  and  control  for  private  profit  the  sources 
of  the  bread  and  labour  supply,  and  the  toiling  millions 
are  in  chains,  and  the  product  of  their  toil  must  inevit- 
ably flow  into  the  hands  of  the  class  that  never  earned  it 


III. 
THE  DYNAMIC  OF  REVOLT. 

But  what  if  the  product  of  the  labour  of  the  masses 
has  always  flowed  into  the  hands  of  a  master  class  that 
has  controlled,  and  still  controls,  the  means  of  life  and 
labour  ?  Does  life  consist  simply  in  getting  the  product 
of  one's  labour  ?  Are  the  rich  so  happy,  are  their  lives 
so  complete,  that  they  are  to  be  envied  ?  Can  the  poor 
not  have  life  and  joy  even  if  they  do  surrender  a  large 
proportion  of  the  product  of  their  labour  ?  Let  the  rich 
and  strong  possess  the  earth  !  Let  them  revel  in  luxury 
and  extravagance  !  "  Life  is  more  than  meat  and  the 
body  than  raiment. "  Let  the  poor  and  exploited  workers 
of  the  world  have  a  gospel  of  life  that  needeth  not  these 
things.  Why  all  this  ado  about  the  product  of  labour 
being  taken  from  those  who  earn  it,  and  placed  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  earn  it  not  ? 

1. — The  Nature  of  Property. 

It  is  in  answer  to  this  false  position,  in  all  its  absurd 
ramifications,  that  the  Social  Revolution  comes,  to 
sweep  away  age-long  ignorance  and  to  establish  a  new 
world  of  social  righteousness,  through  a  just  social 
economy. 

The  natural  property  of  the  eagle  is  his  swift  wing,  of 
the  deer  his  fleet  foot,  of  the  bird  his  feathers,  of  the 
horse  his  hoof.  And  the  natural  property  of  a  man  is 
the  normal  product  of  his  labour.  Naked  he  comes  into 
the  world,  which  is  the  house  full  of  good  things  which 
God  gave  him  for  use  and  enjoyment.  By  his  muscle 
and  his  skill  applied  to  the  gifts  of  nature  he  produces 
the  necessities,  comforts,  and  satisfactions  of  life.  These 
material  things  constitutes  soil  in  which  man  grows. 


THE   IMPENDING   SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  II 

They  feed  his  body.  They  make  possible  leisure  for  the 
development  of  the  mind.  And  the  production  of  things 
through  labour  in  Justice  and  Brotherhood  is  the 
sacrament  of  souls.  Now,  if  one  small  class  controls 
the  basis  by  which  all  live,  and  if  the  natural  reward  of 
the  labourer  is  intercepted,  and  his  true  natural  pro- 
perties never  reach  him,  then  the  worker  is  not  only 
poor  in  purse,  poor  in  the  world's  goods,  poor  in 

material  things— ho  is  poor  in  all  that  human  life  can 
possibly  mean. 

Rob  the  eagle  of  his  swift  wing — his  natural  property 
— you  have  no  eagle.  Rob  the  deer  of  his  fleet  foot — no 
deer.  Let  the  horse  take  not  only  his  own  hoof,  but  the 
feathers  of  the  bird — no  bird — and  the  horse  is  doubt- 
fully enriched.  Let  a  ruling  class  rob  the  labourer  of  the 
natural  product  of  his  toil,  you  have  not  a  man  left,  you 
have  a  Slave.  And  up  to  date  in  human  history  we  have 
had  monstrous  ruling  classes,  cursed  by  their  ill-gotten 
gains,  living  in  a  riot  of  wealth,  and  beneath  them  not 
men,  but  slaves — slaves  with  impoverished  bodies,  with 
dwarfed  and  unenlightened  minds,  their  souls  beaten, 
depressed,  and  degraded. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  problem  precipitated  by  the 
Social  Revolution  is  not  simply  a  quarrel  between  the 
Haves  and  Have-nots.  The  problem  of  justice  in  bread- 
getting  involves  the  whole  man.  It  is  the  problem  of  the 
release  of  the  mind.  It  is  the  problem  of  the  free  soul.  It 
is  the  problem  of  freedom,  the  problem  of  righteousness, 
the  problem  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the  earth.  By 
all  the  sacredness  and  possibility  of  the  soul  of  man  this 
problem  must  be  confronted  and  settled.  It  is  not  a 
side  issue,  it  is  a  supreme  issue.  It  is  not  for  the  after- 
thoughts of  your  religion  or  righteousness.  It  is 
primary  and  fundamental. 

2. — The  New  Righteousness. 

All  the  thefts  and  dishonesties  of  all  petty  criminals 
for  all  time,  for  which  they  have  been  hanged  or  incar- 
cerated in  shame  behind  prison  bars,  are  as  a  drop  in 


12  THE    IMPENDING    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION. 

the  bucket  compared  to  the  legalised  plunder  of  human 
lives  by  the  propertied  classes  from  the  days  of  Pharaoh 
to  modern  Capitalism — a  legalised  plunder  ever 
sanctified  by  the  priesthoods  that  have  fed  at  the 
tables  of  the  rich. 

All  the  murders  and  assassinations  of  history,  com- 
mitted by  man  against  man  through  hate  or  passion, 
and  all  the  slain  in  feud  and  war,  are  few  compared  to 
the  millions  of  men,  women,  and  children  done  to  death, 
and  now  being  daily  done  to  death  by  virtue  of  social 
injustice,  through  the  dark  nights  of  poverty  in  the 
terrible  struggle  for  existence— a  struggle  fearfully  and 
unnecessarily  accentuated  by  the  control  which  the  few 
maintain  over  the  cupboards  and  larders  of  the  world. 

All  the  intellectual  enlightenment  of  the  centuries 
is  a  mere  trifle  compared  to  that  intellectual  release, 
and  expansion  of  human  genius  if  the  multitudes  of  the 
race  were  emancipated  from  economic  servitude  ;  if 
the  toiling  millions  were  secure  in  the  product  of  their 
toil,  and  thus  able  to  secure  leisure  and  equipment  for 
the  culture  of  the  mind. 

All  the  personal  injustice  that  man  can  inflict  on  man 
in  a  free  attack  as  an  individual  in  the  battle  of  life, 
even  on  the  basis  of  the  brute  struggle,  is  nothing  com- 
pared to  the  refined  injustice  incarnated  in  unjust  social 
institutions  in  the  use  of  land  and  machinery,  and  the 
maladministration  of  social  labour. 

All  the  unrighteousness  and  sin  of  individual  lives, 
one  against  the  other,  poured  into  one  stream  would 
make  a  mere  rivulet  compared  to  this  ocean  Of  unright- 
eousness and  sin  against  humanity,  by  virtue  of  mastery 
of  their  only  means  of  life  and  labour.  The  tragedy  of 
it  all  is  that  we  have  for  centuries  strained  at  gnats  and 
swallowed  camels.  We  have  tithed  mint  and  anise 
and  cummin  and  have  forgotten  the  justice  and  mercy 
of  social  righteousness. 

All  the  goodness,  or  loving  kindness,  tenderness, 
mercy,  even  Christlikeness,  manifested  by  all  the  indi- 
vidual saints  and  converted  religious  persons  and 


THE    IMPENDING    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  1$, 

church  members  for  twenty  centuries  is  a  mere 
twinkle  of  a  star  in  the  black  night  of  history,  compared 
to  the  bright  noonday  of  social  righteousness  and 
brotherhood  and  human  goodwill,  which  would  be 
released  and  become  the  open  fact  of  the  common  day 
if  justice  were  established  in  the  use  of  land  ;  justice 
in  the  use  of  machinery  ;  justice  in  the  administration 
of  labour  ;  justice,  in  short,  in  the  bread-getting  of  the 
race. 

3.— Socialism  and  the  Christ-Mission. 

If  God  is  ever  to  wipe  away  the  tears  from  the  face  of 
man  this  age-long  wrong  must  be  overthrown.  If  the 
mission  of  Jesus  is  ever  to  get  the  upperhand  in  human 
affairs,  the  social  revolution  must  come  to  pass.  There 
is  no  more  good  news  to  the  poor  unless  there  is  the 
message  and  the  task  to  abolish  this  age-long  night 
of  poverty.  There  is  no  deliverance  for  captives 
unless  this  social  captivity  is  ended.  There  is  no  setting 
at  liberty  the  people  that  are  bruised  unless  this  age- 
long  bruising  machinery  is  stopped.  If  we  are  ever  to 
call  the  poor  and  the  maimed  and  the  halt  to  the  ban- 
quet of  creation,  the  programme  of  the  revolution  must 
be  inaugurated.  The  Heavenly  Father  may  know  we 
have  need  of  all  these  things,  and  He  may  have  provided 
for  these  needs  in  the  limitless  resources  of  nature,  but 
we  never  can  have  them  for  the  people  except  by  seek- 
ing the  kingdom  of  social  justice  and  human  brother- 
hood—which is  the  Kingdom  of  God— which  is  the 
social  vision  of  the  social  revolution. 

4.— The  Urge  for  Fulness  of  Life. 

Man  is  not  only  a  physical  being  with  material  wants. 
He  is  an  intellectual  and  moral  being.  He  is  a  soul.  The 
earth  and  its  fulness  meets  his  physical  need.  The 
universe  is  the  field  for  his  intellectual  adventure  and 
discovery.  And  the  fellowship  of  souls  in  using  that 
earth,  and  in  penetrating  the  secrets  of  that  world  and 


14  THE    IMPENDING    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION. 

life — that  is  the  joy  and  release  of  souls.  Hence  this 
struggle  for  a  living,  with  the  work  of  the  mind  and  the 
relations  of  souls  involved,  is  a  struggle  for  all  that  life 
can  mean,  for  all  that  a  soul  can  know,  or  feel,  or  be. 
Hunger,  in  the  case  of  man,  is  hunger  of  the  body, 
hunger  of  the  mind,  and  hunger  of  the  spirit.  His  battle 
for  a  living  involves  them  each  and  all.  Moreover,  he  is 
a  soul  in  a  society  of  souls,  each  filled  with  similar 
desires.  And  out  of  our  associated  existence  as  souls 
there  arise  our  conflict  and  antagonism,  and  hence  the 
problem  of  freedom  and  fellowship. 

We  are  not  angels,  but  men.  We  are  embodied  souls. 
The  body,  with  its  needs,  constitutes  the  arena  of  the 
soul's  manifestation.  In  that  arena  the  intellect  must 
find  its  expression  and  the  heart  its  love  and  joy.  Out 
of  that  raw  fact  we  cannot  escape.  In  this  battle  for 
bread  we  must  find  our  freedom  and  fellowship.  The 
word  must  become  flesh.  This  is  our  incarnation.  The 
highest  philosophy,  and  the  deepest  religion  of  the 
heart,  cannot  be  an  escape  from  the  bread  struggle, 
but  the  redemption  thereof.  The  riches  of  the  mind 
are  dependent  upon  plain,  matter-of-fact  bread.  The 
highest  symbol  of  spiritual  illumination  is  the  sacra- 
ment of  bread  and  wine.  And  up  to  date  we  have  not 
partaken  of  that  sacrament  worthily  ;  but  we  Shall 
when  we  have  abolished  economic  injustice,  and  have 
organised  our  daily  bread-getting  in  freedom  and 
brotherhood.  Justice  in  bread-getting  is  the  first  great 
sublime  righteousness.  For  it  means  the  perfected  body, 
the  illumined  mind,  the  comrade  soul. 


IV. 
THE  UN-ATTEMPTED  TASK. 

But  now  observe.  Never  in  all  these  long  centuries 
with  a  few  wonderful  exceptions,  now  claimed  as 
examples  by  the  present  social  revolution,  has  there 
•existed  a  movement  which  has  had  for  its  express  object 


THE    IMPENDING    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  15 

the  abolition  of  this  unceasing  crime  against  the  human 
race.     This  is  our  second  never. 

No  movement  has  ever  existed  to  guarantee  to  the 
worker  private  property  in  the  full  product  of  his  toil. 

No  movement  has  ever  existed  to  deprive  the  few 
of  the  power  to  control  the  sources  of  life  and  labour  of 
the  many. 

No  movement  has  existed  to  organise  industry  on 
terms  of  justice  and  human  brotherhood. 

You  can  find  the  words  liberty,  justice,  and  right- 
eousness in  all  the  religions,  ethics,  politics,  and 
philosophy  of  Assyria,  Greece,  Rome,  England,  and 
America,  covering  a  period  of  forty  centuries,  but, 
without  exception,  those  words  signify  social  relations 
that  never  inquire  into  this  supreme  and  fundamental 
curse  of  associated  humanity. 

Socrates,  Plato,  and  Aristotle,  we  may  place  at  the 
head  of  the  list  of  preachers  of  righteousness  in  which 
this  social  injustice  is  unquestioned.  Paul  and  Marcus 
Aurelius  ;  Hildebrand  and  Martin  Luther  ;  St.  Francis 
and  John  Wesley  ;  Hegel  and  Huxley,  and  Spencer  ; 
Gladstone  and  General  Booth  ;  Prime  Minister  Asquith 
and  President  Roosevelt,  each  and  all  preached,  and 
now  preach,  a  liberty,  a  justice,  and  a  righteousness 
that  sutains  and  sanctifies  the  power  of  the  few  to  own 
and  control  for  private  profit  the  resources  of  nature  and 
the  power  of  machinery,  and  through  this  private  con- 
trol for  private  profit  to  exploit  the  human  race,  and 
reduce  the  masses  to  servitude  and  degradation. 

No  religious  body,  no  ecclesiastical  organisation, 
Roman  Catholic,  Anglican,  or  Nonconformist,  from  the 
Pope  of  Rome  to  the  Salvation  Army,  has  ever  sought 
to  guarantee  the  right  of  the  people  to  live  in  freedom 
on  God's  earth.  They  have  never  sought  to  secure  to  the 
people  the  natural  product  of  toil.  No  religion  or 
philanthropy  has  sought  to  organise  men  in  relations 
of  brotherhood  in  the  use  of  the  earth  and  the  means 
of  livelihood. 

At  this  very  moment,  twenty  centuries  since  the 


l6  THE    IMPENDING   SOCIAL    REVOLUTION. 

ruling  classes  crucified  Christ  because  He  championed 
the  cause  of  the  people,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  a 
church  building  in  which  to  impeach  this  colossal  wrong 
against  an  outraged  humanity,  and  to  plead  the  cause 
of  social  justice. 

The  capitalist  system  is  the  present  form  of  con- 
trolling the  life  and  labour  of  the  people,  and  at  this 
very  moment,  when  great  financiers  are  beginning  to 
cover  their  faces  in  shame  at  the  sights  of  misery  among 
their  own  employes,  and  when  even  the  politicians  of 
the  old  political  parties  all  over  the  civilised  world 
begin  to  doubt  the  rationality  and  righteousness  of 
their  political  faiths,  which  leave  the  present  system 
intact,  the  most  stalwart  apologists  and  dependable 
defenders  of  capitalism  are  the  men  who  are  called  the 
pastors  or  shepherds  of  the  people,  the  men  who  ought 
to  voice  the  cry  of  the  oppressed. 

1.— Our  Relation  to  the  Past. 

In  thus  sweeping  the  pages  of  history,  disclosing  age- 
long injustice,  to  get  the  historical  setting  of  the 
impending  social  revolution,  and  weighing  up  the  morals 
and  religion  of  the  world  in  relation  to  that  injustice, 
it  may  seem  that  we  have  discounted  every  gain  of  the 
race  that  has  come  through  the  efforts  of  the  great  souls 
and  the  great  movements  of  the  past.  But  the  very 
reverse  is  the  fact.  We  can  only  honour  Moses  and 
Jesus,  and  Bruno  and  Wilberforce,  and  the  other  great 
ones  by  being  true  to  humanity  in  our  day,  and 
by  preventing  their  righteousness  being  made  a  bulwark 
for  present  unrighteousness.  We  must  harvest  what 
they  planted.  They  rejoiced  to  see  our  day. 

The  nineteenth  century  alone  gave  tremendous  gains 
to  the  race.  But  every  one  of  these  gains  falls  under  the 
heading  of  unfinished  business  with  which  we  open  the 
century. 

The  nineteenth  century  gave  us  more  machinery  than 
all  the  previous  centuries  of  history.  But  that  ma- 


THE   IMPENDING    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  1 7 

chinery  has  not  lightened  the  burden  of  the  people. 
Unless  that  power  can  be  socialised  for  the  common 
good  it  bids  fair  to  become  a  curse  and  a  tyranny. 

In  the  last  century  trade  unionism  came  to  its  power 
and  victory.  But  unless  it  proceeds  to  organise  the 
whole  working-class  to  capture  the  equipment  of 
civilisation  for  the  people,  it  will  become  only  the  aris- 
tocracy of  labour,  in  an  industrial  feudalism,  beneath 
whom  struggle  a  vast  underworld  of  unorganised,  hope- 
less millions. 

Popular  education,  with  its  schoolhouses  in  every 
ward  and  village,  is  a  mighty  achievement.  But  science 
and  learning  halt  like  the  ancient  philosophies  until 
they  proceed  to  socialise  the  bread-getting  of  the  people, 
and  thus  prevent  the  exploitation  of  an  intellectual 
proletariat. 

The  ballot  is  in  the  hands  of  the  worker,  and  soon 
will  be  in  the  hands  of  his  wife  and  mother.  But 
political  power  is  a  means  to  an  end,  an  instrument  or 
weapon.  And  if  the  industrial  masters  of  the  world 
succeed  in  pitting  one-half  of  the  workers  against  the 
other  half  in  the  political  camps  of  the  master-class, 
then  democracy  shall  become  the  bulwark  of  power  and 
privilege. 

Evangelical  Christianity  in  the  nineteenth  century 
came  to  the  very  zenith  of  its  power.  It  planted  tens 
of  thousands  of  churches,  sent  forth  its  hundreds  of 
missionaries,  enrolled  millions  of  children  in  its  Sunday- 
schools,  published  the  Scriptures  in  every  tongue. 
It  followed  the  lead  of  some  of  the  greatest  preachers  of 
Christendom :  Finney,  Spurgeon,  Moody,  Parker, 
Farrar.  The  Salvation  Army,  a  host  of  leagues  of  mercy, 
hundreds  of  groups  of  philanthropists,  and  scores  of 
charity  organisations  have  arisen  during  the  century. 
Boast  of  all  this  relgious  fervour  and  activity,  and 
charity  and  philanthropy,  and  you  are  boasting  of  a 
royal  beginning,  but  not  an  end,  a  preparation,  an  in- 
auguration. The  whole  religious  world  halts.  There  is 
1m  actual  danger  that  the  Church  shall  disclose  its 


1 8  THE    IMPENDING   SOCIAL    REVOLUTION. 

pagan  elements  at  the  command  of  Capitalism,  and 
actually  deny  the  Christ.  For  the  Christ  cometh  through 
the  Social  Revolution. 

Thus  the  Social  Revolution,  instead  of  denying  the 
heritage  of  the  past,  accepts  it,  interprets  it,  and  pro- 
ceeds to  realise  and  actualise  that  for  which  sages 
and  seers  and  saviours  have  lived  and  died.  "  First  the 
blade,  then  the  ear,  then  the  full  corn  in  the  ear/' 
The  Social  Revolution  is  the  full  corn  in  the  ear  of 
many  a  bloody  planting  in  the  fields  of  time. 

So  the  Social  Revolution  does  not  come  to  destroy 
but  to  fulfil.  We  do  not  point  out  this  failure  of  Chris- 
tendom, of  religious  movements,  and  philanthropic  and 
political  parties  for  mere  attack,  but  to  show  by  striking 
historical  contrast  the  sublime  task  and  the  unparal- 
leled righteousness  of  the  Socialist  cause. 

What  all  religions  and  philosophy  and  politics  up  to 
date  have  never  attempted  to  perform,  or  never  dared 
to  inaugurate,  the  Socialist  movement  proceeds  to 
do. 


V. 
SOCIALISM,  THE  GOOD  SAMARITAN. 

Accepting  the  parable  of  Jesus  we  may  say  that  the 
present  Socialist  movement,  being  the  organised  and 
militant  expression  of  the  Social  Revolution,  is  the  good 
Samaritan  of  all  human  history. 

A  lawyer  had  asked  of  Jesus  the  way  of  eternal  life. 
And  in  this  wonderful  parable  Jesus  discloses  at  once  the 
way  of  life  to  the  individual  soul,  and  the  normal  social 
task  of  the  sons  of  God.  "  This  do  and  thou  shalt  live/" 
said  Jesus.  In  one  brief  line  Jesus,  the  Master-Genius 
and  the  lover  of  men,  sums  up  the  total  of  individual 
and  social  righteousness. 

1.— Violated  Humanity. 

Behold  the  unusual  significance  of  the  parable  of  the 
Good  Samaritan.  This  human  race,  the  body  of  God, 


THE    IMPENDING    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  19. 

went  down  the  path  of  history  from  the  days  of  primi- 
tive man,  through  the  days  of  the  Pharaohs,  and  on 
down  to  modern  Capitalism.  And  during  all  these  long 
centuries  he  has  fallen  among  thieves.  These  thieves 
have  first  robbed  him  of  the  due  product  of  his  toil. 
They  have  by  this  method  stripped  him  of  his  natural 
birthright,  stripped  him  of  his  dignity,  stripped  him  of 
his  rights,  stripped  him  of  that  possibility  of  intellec- 
tual enlightenment  which  should  have  clothed  his 
mind  as  with  a  garment.  At  this  very  moment  he  lies 
before  us  naked  and  exposed  in  the  helplessness  of  his 
ignorance.  But  more — they  have  left  him  half  dead — 
more  than  half  dead,  in  body,  mind,  and  spirit. 

And  during  all  these  long  centuries,  as  I  have  pointed 
out,  whatever  priesthoods  and  philanthropies  and 
politics  have  come  along,  and  whatever  they  may  have 
done,  they  have  passed  by  on  the  wrong  side  as  far  as 
this  robbery,  this  stripping,  this  universal  economic 
havoc  is  concerned. 

But,  by-the-by,  after  the  long,  long  crime  has  had  its 
way,  and  priests  and  statesmen  have  passed  by,  the 
despised  and  unlikely  Socialist  movement  comes  along, 
the  Good  Samaritan  of  history,  and  finds  the  working- 
class  robbed,  stripped,  and  actually  half  dead. 

The  Socialist  movement  finds  two-thirds  of  the  pro- 
duct of  labour  abstracted  from  the  worker  by  the 
Capitalist  class.  We  find  his  children  driven  from  the 
school  and  the  fireside  to  the  workshop  and  into  the 
sweater's  den.  We  find  the  minds  of  these  little  ones 
stripped  naked,  and  bereft  of  the  garments  of  light. 
We  find  that  the  average  age  of  the  workers  is  actually 
thirty-five  years,  only  half  the  normal  three-score 
years  and  ten,  to  say  nothing  of  the  meanings  and  possi- 
bilities of  life  that  never  emerge  even  during  that  short 
thirty-five  years.  Nay,  more,  we  find  him  on  the  road- 
side. The  vast  majority  of  the  working-classes  have  not 
a  spot  on  this  earth  in  which  they  may  dwell  in  security, 
where  they  may  labour  in  joy,  except  by  sufferance  of 
the  owners  of  the  earth  and"  the  profit-mongers  of  in- 


20  THE    IMPENDING    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION. 

dustry.  And  tens  of  thousands  of  the  unemployed  are 
literally  on  the  roadside,  robbed,  stripped,  and  left  half 
dead. 


2. — The  Oil  of  Economic  Truth. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  the  Good  Samaritan  of  human 
history  comes  along,  and  first  pours  oil  into  the  wounds 
of  the  working-class.  In  the  sacred  literature  oil  is  a 
symbol  of  truth.  Truth  means  healing  and  freedom,  and 
righteousness.  In  the  last  analysis  truth  is  not  a  doc- 
trine to  be  preached — it  is  a  vision  to  be  seen.  We 
should  have  the  word  truth  as  a  verb,  then  "  truth-ing  " 
would  mean  perceiving  that  which  makes  men  free. 
The  oil  that  the  social  revolution  pours  into  the  wounds 
of  the  working-class  is  the  truth  of  economics,  revealing 
the  wealth  of  God's  gifts  in  Nature,  showing  the 
limitless  power  of  machinery,  uncovering  the  almost 
miraculous  power  of  the  principle  of  co-operation  and 
organisation.  The  truth  that  men  can  organise  industry 
as  brothers,  using  the  earth  and  the  equipment  of 
industry  co-operatively — this  is  oil  in  the  wounds  of 
mankind.  It  is  hope  and  healing  and  refreshment.  It 
quickens  his  broken  body.  It  stimulates  his  blinded 
mind.  It  arouses  the  moral  and  social  energies  as  noth- 
ing else  can  do.  It  inspires  the  will  to  a  great  social  task. 
And  all  over  the  world  to-day  this  oil  is  being  poured 
into  the  wounds  of  a  robbed,  stripped,  and  half-dead 
working-class.  This  oil  in  the  wounds  is  the  first  great 
work  of  the  revolution. 

If  the  present  Socialist  Movement  has  done  nothing 
•else  it  has  poured  oil  upon  the  wounded  working-class. 
And  this  oil  is  healing  to  the  hurt  of  humanity.  The 
Socialist  Movement  has  placed  into  the  consciousness  of 
the  worker  a  new  conception  of  his  own  worth,  his  own 
dignity,  his  own  right  in  the  universe.  Socialists  are 
called  dreamers.  Very  well.  They  have  at  least 
awakened  millions  of  workers  from  the  nightmares  of 
ignorance,  and  if  they  have  only  offered  the  awakened 


THE   IMPENDING    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  21 

a  dream,  they  have  started  the  pscyhological  activity 
for  worlds  that  are  to  be.  There  is  a  psychological 
basis  for  Social  Revolution.  The  average  dull, 
dreary,  hopeless  monotony  of  consciousness  must  be 
broken.  The  low,  mean,  degraded  conceptions  of 
life  ought  to  be  shattered.  And  thus  a  bolt  of  mental 
dynamite  must  be  discharged  in  the  world  of  thought 
and  feeling.  New  possibilities  to  life,  new  meanings, 
new  avenues,  new  worlds  must  be  opened  up.  The 
literature  of  revolt  must  find  a  seeding  ground  in 
deeper  areas  of  consciousness.  Where  there  is  no 
vision  the  people  perish.  The  Socialist  Movement, 
quite  irrespective  of  its  immediate  or  more  remote 
political  or  economic  proposals,  is  a  vast  social  prayer. 
It  is  an  articulate  cry  for  deliverance  to  the  Kingdom 
of  the  Good.  It  is  a  genuine  revolt  against  unnatural 
and  abnormal  conditions  that  fret  and  distress  the 
mind  and  heart.  It  is  the  ache  for  an  intelligent 
world.  It  is  the  challenge  of  the  Race-Soul  against  the 
limitations  of  experience.  It  is  a  summons  for  the 
Truth  that  shall  make  free.  It  is  the  demonstration 
that  man — the  Spirit — is  master  of  his  environment, 
and  not  victim.  The  Socialist  Movement,  as  a  mere 
psychological  revolt,  is  one  prophecy  of  the  new 
worlds  of  an  emancipated  humanity.  It  is  oil  and  wine 
to  a  wounded  race. 

3.— The  Beast  of  Civilisation. 

In  the  parable  it  is  said  that  the  Good  Samaritan 
lifted  the  robbed  and  wounded  man  and  placed  him 
upon  his  beast.  What  is  this  beast  on  which  the  robbed 
and  wounded  workers  of  the  world  shall  be  placed  ? 
The  answer  is  not  far  to  seek.  The  Beast  is  the  Power 
and  Equipment  of  Civilisation.  Notwithstanding  the 
titanic  achievements  of  modern  times,  there  are  tens 
of  thousands  of  human  beings  in  the  heart  of  our  great 
industrial  life  that  are  more  helpless  than  savages. 
The  very  presence  and  power  of  civilised  life,  when  not 
available  for  them,  is  a  colossal  disaster,  like  earth- 


22  THE   IMPENDING   SOCIAL   REVOLUTION. 

quake,  or  fire,  or  flood,  which  no  activity  in  the  social 
or  economic  life  on  their  part  can  withstand.  The 
economic  laws,  like  the  mills  of  the  gods,  grind  exceed- 
ing small.  Outside  of  railway  stations,  with  their  rush 
and  roar  of  modern  achievement,  stand  the  men  and 
women,  as  if  paralysed  by  that  awful  avalanche  of 
power.  Looking  into  the  mill-gates,  begging  for  work, 
stand  the  ragged  men,  women,  and  children,  looking 
upon  the  machines  that  manufacture  garments  as  if 
by  magic.  Underneath  the  shadow  of  massive  walls 
of  commerce  you  will  find  the  shivering  victims  of  life, 
hungry,  penniless,  homeless.  I  have  never  read  in  the 
annals  of  the  redmen,  that  such  acute  suffering  was 
ever  thrust  upon  isolated  individuals  by  any  social 
system  they  ever  established.  In  dull  monotone,  in 
ten  thousand  churches,  the  prayer  is  offered :  "  Give 
us  this  day  our  daily  bread. "  That  prayer  has  never 
yet  been  answered  to  any  civilisation.  Can  it  be 
answered  ?  Shall  the  race  come  to  a  place  where  Bread 
shall  be  sure,  and  where  the  problems  of  life  shall  be 
in  the  higher  realms  of  art  and  thought  ? 

4.— Organise  Civilisation. 

The  Beast  is  the  Power  and  Equipment  of  Civilisa- 
tion. The  Socialist  Movement  that  organises  and 
expresses  the  Social  Revolution,  proposes  a  re-organisa- 
tion of  our  economic  life  so  that  the  Economic  Forces 
and  Activities  shall  be  the  Servant  of  man  and  not  his 
Master.  The  general  propositions  of  the  Revolution 
may  be  outlined  briefly  as  follows  : — 

i.  Under  the  present  Capitalist  system  the  Land 
is  privately  owned,  and  privately  administered  for 
private  profit.  The  Social  Revolution  aims  at  the 
Socialisation  Of  Land,  thus  guaranteeing  equality  of 
opportunity  in  the  fundamental  resources  of  social 
existence.  The  present  budgets  of  England  and  Ger- 
many contain  elemental  recognition  of  the  principle 
involved.  That  a  few  people  should  control  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  acres  or  collect  millions  annually  in 


THE   IMPENDING   SOCIAL   REVOLUTION.  23 

ground  rents,  while  the  "  Son  of  Man  has  not  where  to 
lay  his  head  "  seems  the  climax  of  social  stupidity. 
The  Socialisation  of  Land  Values,  and  then  the 
Nationalisation  of  Land  will  be  found  to  be  the  inevit- 
able programme  of  any  people  in  the  twentieth  century 
that  will  save  itself  from  social  disintegration. 

2.  Under  the  Capitalist  System  the  Power  of  ma- 
chinery is  privately  owned  and  privately  administered 
for  private  profit.     The  Social  Revolution  is  directed 
towards  the  Socialisation  of  that  amount  of  this  mighty 

Mechanical  Equipment  as  shall  make  the  social  body 

free.  No  doubt  a  vast  amount  of  production  may  still 
be  left  for  long  enough  in  private  hands,  but  the  funda- 
mental basic  equipment  for  the  necessities  and  com- 
fort and  freedom  of  the  whole  people  should  be  socially 
administered  and  pass  into  the  social  body,  and  be 
accomplished  as  if  involuntarily,  as  digestion  or 
assimilation  in  the  physical  body. 

3.  Under  Capitalism  the  products  of  human  labour 
on  land  and  with  machinery  are  counters  in  a  great 
gamble  for  gain.     They  are  produced  for  profit.     It 
was  only  yesterday  that  one  man  held  the  world's 
wheat  crop  in  his  grasp  !    When  the  Social  Revolution 
has  had  its  first  day  the  fundamental  requirements  of 
man  will  be  produced  for  use  and  not  for  profit,  at  the 
least  possible  expenditure  of  human  time  and  energy, 
and  with  the  greatest  possible  perfection  and  rapidity 
by  our  marvellous  mechanical  devices,  utilising  the 
powers  in  creation. 

4.  Since   Land,    Machinery,    and   the   Products   of 
Human  Labour  are  thus  administered  by  private  indi- 
viduals for  private  profit ;    and  since  human  beings 
alone  can  make  these  three  available  for  social  use,  it 
is  evident  that  human  beings  are  actually  bought  and 
sold    and    gambled    with    under    the    operation    of 
Capitalism.     Capitalism    is    an    ill-disguised    slavery 
to  an  eye  that  will  look.     Capitalism  says  :    "I  have 
nothing  to  do  with  human  beings.     I  wish  them  well. 
I  buy  and  sell  and  monopolise  the  dead  thing  called 


24  THE   IMPENDING   SOCIAL   REVOLUTION. 

land.  I  organise  and  control  the  mere  mechanical 
equipment.  It  can  neither  know  nor  suffer.  I  market 
products — mere  products  !  I  do  not  buy  and  sell  men.*' 
The  Social  Revolution  sees  through  this  mask,  and 
tears  it  off,  and  declares  that  Industry  shall  be 
organised  by  man  for  man,  and  that  the  exploitation  of 
human  life  shall  cease  for  ever.  Humanity  shall  be 
placed  upon  the  Beast  of  Civilisation.  The  Socialist 
Movement  is  the  Good  Samaritan  of  Human  History  ! 


The   Messiah  Cometh  :    Riding  upon 
the  Ass  of  Economics. 

TO  get  an  underhold  of  the  subject  before  us,  I 
wish  to  take  the  original  wording  of  the  theme, 
as  that  exactly  expresses  to  my  own  conscious- 
ness the  thing  I  want  to  say.  My  colleagues  felt  that 
the  subject,  as  I  had  at  first  stated  it,  lent  itself  to 
humour  or  ridicule.  Such  a  thing  had  never  once 
crossed  my  mind.  The  theme,  to  my  mind,  expressed 
history  and  prophecy  in  one  unique,  symbolical  phrase, 
and  so,  for  advertising  purposes,  I  submitted  another 
wording  which  partly  revealed  and  partly  concealed 
the  message  I  have  to  offer  you.  But,  in  order  that  I 
may  give  you  the  blood  of  my  thought  through  its 
natural  artery,  now  that  we  are  assembled  I  shall  retain 
the  original  wording,  which  is  this  :  "  The  Messiah 
Cometh :  Riding  upon  the  Ass  of  Economics/' 

By  this  I  mean  that  the  word  of  truth  and  the  moral 
-and  spiritual  energy  that  is  to  deliver  the  people  in  our 
time  to  a  new  world  of  freedom  does  not  come  by  way 
of  the  priest,  the  sacrament,  the  stained  glass,  the 
theological  formula,  the  holy  day,  the  wrapt  pietism  of 
the  professional  keepers  of  the  kingdom,  but  it  comes 
via  the  factory  gates,  the  cry  of  the  hungry,  the  heavy 
tread  of  the  unemployed,  the  fields  and  valleys  that 
ache  for  a  happy  and  contented  people,  the  common 
day  of  labour, — the  Battle  for  Bread. 


I. 
THE  MESSIANIC  HOPE. 

There  are  traces  of  the  hope  of  a  coming  deliverer 
in  the  sacred  literature  of  all  peoples.  This  hope  of  a 
Messiah  was  especially  strong  among  the  Jews  in  the 
centuries  immediately  preceding  our  era.  The  con- 
ceptions of  this  Messianic  age  greatly  varied,  but,  in 


2  THE    MESSIAH    COMETH  :      RIDING 

general,  the  advent  of  the  Messiah  meant  the  dawn  of 
an  age  of  peace  among  men,  material  prosperity  and 
happiness,  and  the  release  and  perfection  of  the  spiritual 
powers  of  the  race. 

When  the  Son  of  Man  appeared  then  He  came  in 
a  very  unpromising  manner.  The  glorious  temple 
glittered  upon  Mount  Moriah.  At  its  altars  ministered 
thousands  of  priests  clothed  with  ecclesiastical  dignity. 
The  system  of  worship  was  perfect.  Nothing  was 
lacking  to  ecclesiastical  architecture,  ritual,  ceremony, 
and  devotion.  Surely  the  deliverer  would  come  via 
the  path  thus  prepared  for  his  feet — where  God  was 
duly  worshipped,  His  service  duly  rendered,  His  Word 
duly  expounded.  Or,  if  He  came  as  a  national  hero, 
He  should  be  born  of  the  nobility,  reared  among  the 
ruling-classes,  received  with  eclat  by  deputations  of 
Church  and  State.  As  a  conquering  deliverer,  He 
should  come  riding  on  a  fiery  steed,  caparisoned  in  gold 
and  glittering  with  armour.  But,  alas !  no  more 
disappointing  advent  could  be  imagined.  The  Son  of 
Man  comes,  His  mother  a  peasant  girl,  His  father  a 
carpenter,  His  disciples  greasy  fishermen,  His  followers 
the  rabble,  the  common  people,  "  who  heard  Him 
gladly/'  and— to  crown  the  rudeness  and  baseness  of 
His  advent— the  Messiah  comes  riding  into  Jerusalem 
on  an  ass ! 

There  is  something  sublime  beyond  words  in  the 
dream  of  a  Messianic  age.  It  reveals,  in  a  cross-section 
of  human  history,  the  sure  promise  of  its  realisation. 
The  race  that  can  conceive  of  Messianic  Personality 
is  inherently  destined  to  bring  to  pass  the  Messianic 
day  of  triumph  over  war,  injustice,  ignorance,  and 
hate.  But  ever  it  shall  be  that  the  keepers  of  the 
oracles,  by  their  very  sense  of  power  and  their  associa- 
tion with  the  ideas  and  principles  of  ruling-classes, 
shall  be  unable  to  perceive  the  approach  of  the  Mes- 
sianic Age,  and  shall  be  utterly  disappointed  and 
disgraced  by  its  method  of  approach.  And  so  it  is 


UPON  THE  ASS  OF  ECONOMICS.  3 

to-day.    A  Messianic  deliverance  is  at  hand— but  on 
an  ass ! 

1.— The  New  Deliverance. 

The  peoples  of  the  whole  world  are  crying  for 
deliverance.  Whatever  past  saviours  and  moVements 
have  done  for  the  race,  we  are  still  undelivered ;  we 
are  still  unsaved.  We  await  redemption  ;  salvation 
remains  a  hope,  not  an  experience.  Social  injustice 
is  rampant  and  ruthless.  The  weak  are  trampled  by 
the  devotees  of  the  Mammon-gods.  The  poor  and 
degraded  crowd  the  great  cities  of  civilisation  by 
millions.  They  crawl  like  vermin  in  a  thousand  centres 
of  industry.  The  working-classes  of  the  world  are 
still  ruthlessly  defrauded  of  the  natural  product  of  their 
toil.  The  bodies,  minds,  and  souls  of  the  people 
are  caught  in  irresistible  currents  of  social  and  indus- 
trial strife.  And  the  people  cry  by  reason  of  their 
bondage. 

2.— The  Urge  for  Freedom. 

This  urge  of  the  working-classes  of  the  world  may 
fitly  be  called  a  Messianic  movement,  and  its  goal  a 
Messianic  deliverance.  I  think  we  may  safely  make 
the  word  Messianic  carry  all  the  hopes  and  ideals  that 
fill  the  horizon  of  the  Social  Revolution. 

The  total  urge  at  the  base  of  the  Social  Revolution  is 
for  Fulness  and  Freedom  of  Life.  It  is  life  asserting 
itself  against  convention,  barrier,  power.  If  God  is 
life— then  the  Social  Revolution  is  God  incarnate, 
seeking  expression  and  fullest  dramatisation  in  all 
possible  concrete  forms  of  abundant  human  experience. 
He  who  reads  the  present-day  movement  as  a  struggle 
between  the  Haves  and  Have-Nots,  as  if  it  were  for  a  mere 
division  of  spoil,  a  mere  envy  of  the  poor,  or  a  mere 
brute  struggle  to  possess,  knoweth  not  what  he  reads. 

The  whole  ceaseless  urge  of  this  Labour  Movement 


4  THE   MESSIAH   COMETH  :     RIDING 

is  for  the  natural  vigour,  richness,  and  joy  of  physical 
existence9  which  ought  to  be  the  birthright  of  every 
human  being.  It  is  for  leisure  and  liberty,  for  intel- 
lectual culture  and  expression,  the  free  flow  of  the 
eternal  fountains  of  art  and  genius.  This  urge  is  for 
that  expanse  and  flight  Of  the  SOUl  into  a  world  Of 

spiritual  meaning  and  illumination,  which  is  the  crown 
of  being.  The  revolution  is  driven  onward  by  the 
dynamos  of  heart-hunger  for  love  and  comradeship, 
which  is  the  incarnate  form  of  absolute  unity.  Such 
is  the  sweep  of  the  Messianic  hope  of  the  peoples  now 
bound  in  the  chains  of  Capitalism.  But  the  Messiah, 
the  Deliverer,  the  Emancipator — to  this  Messianic  age 
— cometh  riding  on  an  ass.  That  ass  is  the  Ass  of 
Economics  ! 

3.— Two  Pictures. 

I  am  writing  these  lines  on  a  Sunday  morning  out  in 
the  open  fields.  The  smell  of  grass  and  air  will  make 
my  words  ring  true  and  purge  them  of  artificiality  and 
convention.  I  am  within  sight  of  the  great  cathedral. 
The  chimes  from  the  tower  pour  into  my  ears.  I  see 
worshippers  as  they  hurry  to  the  service  of  God. 
The  ladies  are  beautifully,  even  elegantly,  clad.  They 
clasp  beautiful  Bibles  and  prayer-books  in  their  hands. 
The  gentlemen  are  dressed  as  for  a  state  occasion- 
top  hats  are  a  striking  feature  of  the  hastening  pro- 
cession. They  have  closed  the  shops  and  stores  and 
offices  and  banks.  They  are  keeping  the  Sabbath-day 
holy.  They  are  now  approaching  the  place  of  wor- 
ship. The  shining  motor-cars  draw  near  the  cathedral 
door  with  a  modified  Sabbatic  speed.  The  lofty  spire 
pierces  the  blue.  The  sweet,  rich,  glowing  sunlight 
doth  not  enter.  Within  there  is  a  "  dim  religious 
light/*  the  light  of  heaven  being  obstructed  by  man's 
stone  walls,  or,  if  admitted,  only  through  the  stained 
glass  of  the  narrow,  mediaeval  window.  The  wor- 
shippers enter  ;  they  have  come  to  serve  God — to  pray 
to  God — to  chant  God's  praises  in  many  repetitions — 


UPON  THE  ASS  OF  ECONOMICS.  5 

to  receive  the  sacrament  at  the  hands  of  a  robed 
ecclesiastical  dignitary — to  hear  the  word  of  God 
explained.  The  theology  is  perfect ;  who  so  impudent 
as  to  revise  it  ?  The  ceremony  is  a  poem  ;  who  would 
change  the  accent  of  a  syllable  ?  The  people  are 
exhorted  to  cultivate  a  Christ-like  state  of  mind,  to  be 
kind  to  the  poor,  to  be  faithful  to  the  Church.  His 
theme  was  God,  Christ,  Religion,  the  Church. 

Not  more  than  a  mile  away  from  the  cathedral  tower, 
away  out  in  the  open  field,  a  crowd  of  people  are  gather- 
ing. Let  us  go  and  watch  them.  The  men  are  simply 
dressed  ;  they  wear  caps — they  do  not  remove  them. 
The  women  are  not  numerous,  but  those  present  are 
not  robed  in  silks  and  satins.  Children  gather  round 
the  speaker's  box ;  many  of  them  are  dirty  and 
miserably  clad.  They  have  poured  out  from  the  long 
monotonous  rows  of  tenements  that  reach  to  the  edge 
of  the  open.  The  speaker  hushes  the  noisy  babble  of 
the  children  before  he  can  be  heard.  A  drove  of  sheep 
runs  past  in  the  field  ;  the  lambs  bleating  distract  the 
listeners.  There  is  no  stained  glass.  The  sun  shines 
down  through  the  broken  clouds  ;  there  is  a  sprinkle  of 
rain.  Will  they  have  to  disperse  ?  There  is  no 
priest ;  there  is  no  chant ;  there  is  no  prayer.  They 
do  not  come  to  serve  God  ;  they  come  to  lift  men  ! 
They  carry  no  Bibles.  The  poor  little  urchins  round 
the  box,  and  the  tired,  broken  lives  in  the  crowd  are 
to  them  an  open  Word  of  God.  A  carpenter  is  speaking 
— I  don't  know  his  name.  I  heard  one  of  his  comrades 
say,  "  You  better  begin,  Jack/'  and  he  began.  He 
talked  about  land  and  machines,  employment  and 
unemployment,  rents  and  wages.  He  told  them  of 
people  worth  millions  and  of  millions  worth  nothing. 
He  told  the  story  of  a  man  who  had  dropped  almost 
dead  from  sheer  starvation,  hunting  for  work  ;  he 
talked  about  crowded  populations,  about  Liberals  and 
Tories,  about  ballots  and  Parliament,  about  the  workers 
in  other  lands  facing  the  same  cruel  struggles.  He 
exhorted  his  fellow-workers  to  unite  to  alter  these 


6  THE    MESSIAH    COMETH  :     RIDING 

wrongs.  They  heckled  him.  He  mopped  the  sweat 
from  his  face  and  neck.  He  was  vehement,  ungram- 
matical,  unpolished.  His  speech  was  much  less  ordered 
than  I  have  indicated.  Jack  got  down  from  the  box. 
His  theme  was  Economics. 

4.— The  Contrast. 

I  have  given  you  two  pictures.  There  convention, 
here  romance  ;  there  robes,  here  rags  ;  there  ritual  and 
rubric,  here  the  deep  urge  of  man-soul.  There,  peace, 
peace,  here  dissatisfaction,  protest ;  there  melody, 
here  murmur.  The  one  refined,  the  other  raw ;  the 
one  cultured,  the  other  crude.  The  one  hoary  with  age, 
boasting  of  its  centuries  ;  the  other  youthful,  its  hope 
in  the  future.  The  one  proud  and  pompous  ;  the  other 
poor  and  unpretentious.  The  one  great  and  honoured, 
the  other  commonplace,  despised.  That  possesses  the 
oracles  of  God  ;  this  pulsates  with  the  cry  of  Man. 
There  they  preach  Christ ;  here  they  plead  for  the 
"  least  one  of  these/'  His  brethren. 

It  is  in  this  latter  group— this  murmuring,  dissatisfied, 
protesting,  unpretentious,  uncultured,  despised  group, 
uttering  in  broken  jargon  the  cry  of  the  hungry  and  the 
dispossessed,  that  I  see  one  standing  like  unto  the  Son 
Of  Man,  and  I  hear  him  say,  "  I  am  come  with  good 
news  to  the  poor,  to  deliver  social  captives,  to  set  at 
liberty  the  people  that  are  bruised/'  "  and  inasmuch  as 
ye  have  done  it  for  one  of  the  least  of  these  little 
children  round  the  box,  ye  have  done  it  unto  Me." 
The  motor-cars  whirl  away  from  the  temple  of  God, 
and  sweep  past  that  crowd  with  disdain,  and  they^see 
not  that  the  Messiah  is  at  hand  riding  on  an  ass ! 


II. 
ECONOMICS— BREAD. 

Let  us  return  now  from  drama  to  plain  prose.  There 
is  the  organised  Christian  Church,  with  its  temples  and 


UPON  THE  ASS  OF  ECONOMICS.  7 

priests  and  preachers ;  its  ritual  and  sermon  and 
prayer  and  song ;  its  ecclesiastical  and  evangelical 
activity.  Professedly  it  is  the  keeper  of  the  world's 
conscience  ;  the  expounder  of  the  ways  of  God  to  men  ; 
it  opens  and  closes  the  doors  of  salvation  ;  it  is  the 
professed  announcer  of  Redemption.  If  there  is  to 
be  a  Messianic  message,  inspiring  the  Messianic  Hope, 
and  introducing  a  Messianic  Age,  the  next  grand 
advance  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the  earth,  by  all 
the  rules  of  sequence,  the  Church  should  announce  that 
message  and  bear  us  into  that  new  era.  But  it  shall 
not  be  so.  Disappointment  shall  fall  upon  Zion. 
They  shall  not  lead  the  Messiah  forth  from  their  temples. 
They  shall  come  forth  from  their  temples  to  meet  the 
Messiah.  He  shall  come  from  a  despised  neighbouring 
Nazareth,  with  the  common,  unbaptised  herd  about 
him,  and  the  children  of  the  poor  crying  hosanna  in  the 
streets  !  The  robed  priest  shall  not  know  his  God,  and 
the  professed  nonconformist  pietist  shall  not  know  his 
master ;  and  as  the  Lord  of  Life  comes  to  answer  the 
long  monotony  "  Thy  Kingdom  Come  "  of  the  divine 
service,  those  who  prayed  that  prayer  will  have  no  eyes 
to  see  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom.  For  they  expect 
Him  on  a  steed  caparisoned  in  gold.  How  could  they 
recognise  him  otherwise  ?  But  SO  it  Shall  not  be. 

1.— Sacred  Words. 

There  is  a  vocabulary  which  is  supposed  to  be  reli- 
gious, which  alone  is  considered  capable  of  conveying 
the  meaning  of  God  to  mankind.  The  words  of  that 
vocabulary  are  sacred.  All  others  are  secular.  Some 
of  these  words  are  the  following : — God,  Lord,  Christ, 
Holy  Ghost,  Prayer,  Sin,  Repentance,  New  Birth,  Sal- 
vation, Conversion,  Justification,  Redemption,  Sab- 
bath, Eternal  Life,  Heaven.  It  is  said  whosoever 
speaks  these  words,  in  due  relations,  speaks  the  word 
and  will  of  God.  Such  words,  it  is  said,  will  constitute 
the  base  of  that  message  that  shall  herald  the  coming 


C  THE  MESSIAH  COMETH  :     RIDING 

of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  in  the  Earth.  These  are  the 
words  of  the  science  of  theology.  These  are  the  sacred 
vocabulary. 

2,— The  Science  of  Economics. 

But  there  is  another  science— a  lowly,  common 
thing — the  Science  of  Economics.  If  you  intend  to  be 
alive  in  the  next  quarter  of  a  century  you  may  just  as 
well  learn  that  word — Economics.  The  word  is  derived 
from  two  Greek  words  which  mean  the  law  or  method  of 
housekeeping.  Surely  it  is  a  long  drop  from  the  dome 
of  Heaven  to  a  scullery,  from  the  elysium  of  eternity  to 
a  coal-shed,  from  the  doctrine  of  holiness  to  a  grocery 
bill !  The  word  Economics  has  been  retained  for  our 
use,  not  with  reference  to  the  housekeeping  of  the 
family,  but  with  reference  to  the  national  house- 
keeping. The  idea  is  that  the  population  is  the  family  ; 
the  land  is  the  larder,  and  cellar  and  garden  and  field  ; 
the  vast  machinery  is  the  hoe,  the  spade,  and  the  axe, 
—that  is,  the  Equipment  of  Industry.  And  the  Science 
of  Economics  seeks  to  ask  and  answer  the  question  : 
Given  so  many  millions  of  people,  so  many  millions  of 
acres,  so  much  energy  and  water  and  steam  and  factory 
and  machine,  how  can  we  keep  house  together,  guar- 
anteeing to  everyone  a  chance  to  labour  freely  without 
servitude  ?  Give  to  each  the  product  of  his  labour  as 
fiis  natural  reward  ?  Make  it  impossible  for  the  few 
to  control  the  life  of  the  many  ?  Abolish  unnatural, 
degrading  poverty  in  the  midst  of  abundance,  and 
secure  to  every  man,  woman,  and  child  the  material 
conditions  upon  which  he  or  she  may  live  a  complete, 
happy,  wholesome,  free,  and  full  human  life.  This  is 
the  business  of  the  Science  of  Economics.  And  I  say 
unto  you  that  the  World-Deliverance,  the  Messianic 
Advent,  that  is  at  hand,  the  greatest  in  all  human 
history,  comes  using  the  terms,  phrases,  and  themes  of 
this  lowly  Science  of  Economics.  This  gospel  of  the 
larder,  scullery,  coal-house,  tool-yard,  and  field 
becomes  the  message  of  the  Son  of  Man. 


UPON  THE   ASS   OF  ECONOMICS.  9. 

3.— The  Spirituality  of  Materialism. 

The  science  of  theology  and  ethics  is  declared  to  be 
spiritual,  pertaining  to  the  highest  things  in  life,  the 
ideal,  the  eternal  things.  The  Science  of  Economics  is 
declared  to  be  materialistic,  a  gospel  of  the  belly,  per- 
taining to  the  fleeting  things  of  time  and  sense.  The 
vocabulary  of  the  one  is  sacred,  that  of  the  other  secular. 
And  yet  I  say  unto  you  that  the  Messianic  Movement  at 
this  juncture  of  human  history  comes  to  us  using  the 
lowly,  commonplace  vocabulary  of  materialism. 

Such  words  as  land,  steam,  electricity,  machinery, 
wages,  hours,  shillings,  pence  ;  labour  and  leisure ; 
half-timers,  infant  mortality,  sweating ;  farming, 
mining,  weaving,  sailing,  railroading  ;  bread,  blankets, 
boots  ;  clothing,  coal,  rent — these  and  their  kin  are  the 
words  that  can  now  carry  the  freightage  of  the  divine 
meanings  to  the  future  of  the  human  race.  The 
Messiah  starts  with  these  words  ;  they  are  at  hand  ; 
He  does  not  coin  them ;  He  finds  them  by  following 
the  blood-drips  of  a  crucified  humanity.  By  using 
these  words  in  due  relation  to  the  birth-throes  of  the 
race,  He  wields  the  two-edged  sword  of  the  Spirit. 
These  are  the  words  of  the  Science  of  Economics. 
By  no  other  medium  can  the  Christ-principle  effect  an 
entrance  into  our  actual  human  affairs. 

The  Messianic  age  does  not  come  primarily  with  a 
New  Theology  or  a  new  code  of  ethics,  but  with  a  new 
social  vision  for  an  emancipated  humanity,  and  that 
social  vision  has  no  other  vocabulary  into  which  it  can 
be  translated,  except  the  words  of  the  Science  of 
Economics  ;  on  no  other  vocabulary  can  the  forces  for 
human  emancipation  of  this  era  be  floated. 

These  words  are  commonplace,  out-of-doors,  home- 
spun— not  Sunday-like,  but  secular,  matter-of-fact, 
raw,  realistic.  When  you  pronounce  them  you  smell 
the  sweat  of  human  bodies  in  the  slaveries  of  Capitalism, 
not  the  cool,  stone-like  odour  of  ecclesiastical  architec- 
ture. As  you  utter  them  you  hear,  not  the  valved 


10  THE    MESSIAH    COMETH  I      RIDING 

intonation  of  the  priest  in  the  conduct  of  ritual  and 
ceremony,  but  the  roar  of  machinery  and  the  surge  of 
the  tide  of  humanity  in  the  marts  of  trade.  You  hear 
the  spindle  and  the  shovel,  the  hammer  and  the  lever. 
The  Messianic  Movement  comes,  as  it  always  came, 
outside  the  temple.  The  Son  of  Man  cometh  not  only 
when  you  do  not  expect  Him,  but  in  a  manner  you  do 
not  expect  Him.  No  stained  glass,  no  stately  cere- 
mony, no  pomp  of  dignitaries,  no  artificially  preserved 
dogmas  ;  but  leaping  like  a  Phcenix  out  of  the  decay 
and  ashes  of  Capitalism,  bursting  as  water  out  of  the 
face  of  the  rock,  flaming  forth  like  a  volcano  from  un- 
seen terrestrial  fires  ;  so  cometh  the  mighty  Son  of  Man 
in  the  great  world-wide  Socialist  and  Labour  Movement 
—the  Word  of  the  Lord  pouring  through  the  truths  of 
Economic  Science. 

4.— The  Truth  that  makes  Free. 

The  truth  that  the  people  shall  know,  and  knowing 
be  free,  cannot  be  stated  in  abstract  theological 
formulae,  new  or  old,  nor  can  it  be  taught  in  the  detail 
of  a  new  ethical  code.  The  truth  that  shall  make  them 
free  arises  out  of  human  need,  human  suffering,  human 
struggle,  the  human  passion  for  freedom,  the  human 
urge  for  completeness  of  life.  The  truth  is  not  a 
speculation,  a  statement,  or  a  doctrine  at  all.  It  is  a 
deed,  a  social  act,  a  way  out.  We  would  be  more  exact 
not  to  use  the  word  truth  as  a  noun,  but  as  a  verb. 
Thus  truth-ing  would  consist  in  willing  the  way  that 
makes  men  free.  We  should  be  saved  from  the  fallacy 
of  thinking  that  we  were  of  the  truth  because  our  specu- 
lations were  exact  and  our  doctrines  orthodox.  Jesus 
said,  "I  am  the  Truth,"  but  this  was  accompanied  by 
"  I  am  the  Way,"  and  the  way  is  the  way  of  the 
abundant  life,  truth-ing  is  moving  upon  the  way  that 
leads  to  life  in  all  its  fulness. 

The  wrongs  of  Capitalism,  its  colossal  lie,  its  brutal 
injustice,  its  cowardly  heaping  in  the  midst  of  starva- 


UPON  THE  ASS  OF  ECONOMICS. 


tion  and  penury,  constitute  the  vast  negative  back- 
ground against  which  the  positive  new  revelation  of  a 
free  humanity  is  silhouetted.  The  background  re- 
mains until  the  revelation  is  read  and  interpreted  and 
acted  upon. 

Order  is  heaven's  first  law.  Capitalism  is  the  vast 
social  anarchy  that  we  suffer  for  a  time.  But  the  time 
of  this  ignorance  is  winked  at  no  longer.  Men  are  com- 
manded everywhere  to  repent.  To  repent  is  to  begin  to 
truth.  It  is  an  act  of  the  will.  Economics  direct  the 
social  will  in  the  way.  In  that  Socialist  way  is  life  and 
freedom  for  the  people. 

The  Science  of  Economics  reminds  one  of  the  man- 
fish,  Cannes  of  Chaldea,  mentioned  by  Victor  Hugo. 
This  man-fish  had  two  heads — at  the  top  the  head  of  a 
man,  below  the  head  of  a  hydra.  He  drank  up  chaos 
by  his  lower  gullet,  and  re- vomited  it  on  the  earth 
through  the  upper  mouth  in  the  form  of  dreadful  know- 
ledge. So  the  Science  of  Economics  feeds  into  its 
hyrda-head  the  dung-heaps,  the  charnel-houses,  and 
filth-alleys,  and  hell-holes  of  Capitalism  ;  it  gobbles  up 
the  horrible  chaos  of  wealth  and  poverty,  of  over- 
work and  unemployment,  of  vacant  lands  and  reeking 
tenements ;  it  swallows  the  colossal  counterfeits  of 
religion,  and  its  respectable  caricatures  on  real  right- 
eousness ;  it  devours  its  plagues  of  charity  and  alms- 
giving, and  then  vomits  out  of  the  mouth  of  man  the 
dreadful  knowledge  of  a  true  Science  of  Human  Society, 
a  social  message  of  hope  and  deliverance  for  a  weary 
race,  a  Messianic  announcement  that  the  kingdom  of 
Capitalism  shall  be  no  more,  that  a  new  age  of  justice 
and  human  brotherhood  is  at  hand. 


III. 
ETHICS— BROTHERHOOD. 

All   this   sounds   like    crass   materialism.     All   this 
sounds  as  if  man  lived  by  bread  alone,  and  needed  no 


12  THE   MESSIAH   COMETH  :     RIDING 

other  substance  out  of  the  words  or  creations  which  the 
Father  hath  given  us  in  the  plethora  of  the  universe. 

That  the  Son  of  Man  should  come  speaking  of  the 
tenements  in  Liverpool  rather  than  homes  in  heaven  ; 
of  the  rags  of  the  poor,  instead  of  the  white  robes  of  the 
redeemed  ;  of  the  vast  acreage  of  counties  and  coun- 
tries, instead  of  the  fields  of  glory  ;  of  the  hells  in  which 
the  crowded  peoples  jostle  one  another  in  New  York 
and  Paris  and  London,  instead  of  Satan's  eternal  tor- 
ment ;  of  just  wages  for  factory  workers  and  farm 
labourers,  instead  of  the  wages  of  sin  ;  of  shovels  and 
spindles,  instead  of  harps  and  crowns ;  of  labour 
statistics,  the  number  of  half-timers,  and  the  army  of 
the  unemployed,  instead  of  the  roll-call  in  the  grand 
finale  in  a  world  beyond  the  sky  ;  that  the  Son  of  Man 
should  come  questioning  the  titles  to  landed  estates, 
and  demanding  land  nationalisation,  instead  of 
pleasantly  assuring  rich  deacons  and  millionaire  elders 
of  their  titles  clear  to  mansions  in  the  skies — surely, 
surely,  this  is  a  total  surrender  of  the  ideal,  a  total 
abandonment  to  the  abyss  of  the  flesh  and  sense. 
Surely  this  is  a  surrender  to  the  mud-god,  twin  brother 
to  the  mammon-god  of  Capitalism.  But  not  so.  Not 
at  all.  The  very  opposite  is  the  truth. 


1.— The  Cry  for  Bread  is  the  Cry  for  Fulness  of  Life. 

This  gospel  of  bread  that  meets  the  age-long  cry  of 
humanity  is  the  only  root  out  of  which  the  mighty 
stalk  of  human  freedom  and  social  justice  can  grow,  and 

on  this  stalk  alone  can  the  uttermost  and  divinest 
blossoms  and  fruitage  of  human  life  be  born. 

The  cry  for  bread  is  the  cry  for  life.  Bread  means 
loaves,  to  be  sure.  But  it  also  means  boots  and  books 
and  blankets.  It  means  education  and  music  and  art. 
It  means  home  and  friends.  It  means  travel  and 
fellowship.  The  cry  for  bread  is  the  cry  for  life,  and  all 
that  life  can  mean. 


UPON   THE   ASS   OF   ECONOMICS.  13 

But  life  is  not  possible  without  labour  and  the  pro- 
ducts of  labour.  And  labour  cannot  be  put  forth 
except  on  land  or  the  products  of  land.  But  the 

corn  and  cotton  and  wool  and  coal  and  iron  cannot 
be  developed  and  distributed  to  advantage  except  by 
machinery.  And  machinery  cannot  be  utilised  econo- 
mically except  by  the  co-operation  of  the  multitude. 

But  this  struggle  of  the  individual  for  life,  in  the- 
compulsory  co-operation  of  all  which  civilisation  entails, 
precipitates  each  and  every  one  of  us  into  basic  social 
and  industrial  relations  which  must  be  made  just  and 
brotherly  and  good,  or  all  life  is  a  nightmare  of  deadly 
struggle  and  strife  and  pain. 

For  be  it  remembered,  it  is  our  fundamental,  con- 
stant, and  abiding  social  and  economic  relations  with 
one  another  that  make  for  freedom,  and  justice,  and 
human  perfection  ;  not  our  incidental,  or  voluntary, 
or  passing  personal  relations.  It  is  in  our  week-day 
relations  in  the  battle  for  bread,  not  our  Sunday  rela- 
tions in  religion  and  worship,  that  the  real  measure  of 
our  righteousness  is  manifest.  The  week-day 
relations  register  our  freedom  of  life. 

Now,  the  Science  of  Economics,  which  the  Messianic 
spirit  rides  upon  in  the  social  revolution,  gets  its  depth, 
and  power,  and  glory,  and  sacredness,  because  of  the 
incalculable  sacredness  of  the  human  lives  with  which  it 
is  Concerned,  and  for  which  it  comes  to  bring  industrial 
freedom.  There  is  only  one  sacred  thing  beneath  the 
stars.  Not  churches,  Bibles,  constitutions,  laws,  doc- 
trines, but  human  life.  Whatever  hinders,  harms, 
hurts,  enslaves,  degrades  one  of  these  little  ones — that 
is  the  anti-Christ,  that  is  the  wrong.  Whatever  helps 
or  emancipates  human  life,  stands  human  life  up. 
without  a  master  and  without  a  slave,  in  the  freedom  ta 
be  all  that  God  meant  it  to  be— that  is  the  right,  the 
good,  the  true.  That  is  the  coming  of  Christ.  And 
economics,  with  its  social  investigation,  its  statistics, 
its  impeachment  of  Capitalism,  and  its  heralding  of 


14  THE     MESSIAH     COMETH  I       RIDING 

Socialism,  gathers  its  sacredness,  and  rises  to  its  su- 
premely sacred  mission,  because  at  this  juncture  of 
history  it  is  the  only  beast  on  which  the  people  can  ride 
to  freedom.  It  is  the  only  science  that  can  organise 
our  social  and  industrial  institutions  in  justice  and 
brotherhood. 

No  set  of  subjects  can  carry  the  new  teaching  of 
social  righteousness,  except  the  subjects  the  Socialist 
movement  precipitates — the  Science  of  Economics. 
Face  the  raw  and  terrible  facts  of  Capitalism  ;  seek 
for  the  abolition  of  those  wrongs  and  injustices  of 
Capitalism  ;  seek  for  that  truth  which  shall  make  the 
people  free — and  ail  the  deepest  ethical  conceptions  and 
convictions,  all  the  rich  feelings  of  the  human  heart, 
all  the  deep  urge  of  the  Soul  of  Man  will  be  released  and 
called  into  action. 


2.— The  New  Social  Conscience. 


This  world-wide  Socialist  movement  of  our  times, 
in  laying  its  emphasis  upon  land,  machinery,  products, 
—bread,  labour,  and  life — is  precipitating  upon  the 
conscience  of  the  world  a  deeper  and  more  searching 
gospel  of  social  righteousness  than  has  ever  yet  received 
a  hearing  on  this  planet.  The  human  race  was  never 
summoned  to  such  a  deep,  far-reaching  repentance  as 
that  to  which  the  Socialist  calls  us. 

This  Socialist  movement,  in  talking  and  writing  and 
voting  about  bread,  bread,  bread,  is  interpreting  a 
value,  and  sacredness,  and  ultimate  significance  to 
human  beings  that  mammonism  never  knew  and 
ecclesiasticism  has  forgotten.  But  this  value  we  can- 
not secure  or  release  except  through  a  fundamental  re- 
adjustment of  our  economic  and  industrial  life.  With- 
out any  pretentious  to  be  primarily  a  teacher  of 
righteousness,  coming  only  as  a  herald  of  a  Social 
Revolution  in  the  manner  of  our  bread-getting,  the 
Socialist  movement  is  already  the  prophet  and  the 


UPON   THE   ASS   OF   ECONOMICS.  15 

interpreter  of  the  new  social  conscience  to  the  race. 

The  Socialist  movement  is  the  most  universal  and 
synthetic  gospel  of  social  righteousness  the  world  has 
ever  known. 

The  Church  that  bears  the  name  of  Christ  is  supposed 
to  be  the  moral  and  spiritual  instructor  of  the  race,  but 
any  Christianity  that  is  at  peace  with  the  cruel  and 
unpardonable  injustices  of  Capitalism  has  betrayed  all 
that  Christ  stands  for  to  the  mammon-gods.  Indeed, 
to  the  extent  that  the  religious  bodies  of  civilisation  are 
becoming  permeated  with  the  Socialist  ideal,  with  the 
Socialist  attack  on  Capitalism,  and  the  Socialist 
programme  for  a  just  order  of  society,  and  are  repenting 
of  their  complicity  with  the  crime  of  Capitalism,  to 
that  extent  even  the  Church  is  becoming  moralised, 
her  life  quickened,  and  her  vision  clarified.  It  is  not 
for  the  Church  to  spiritualise  the  Socialist  movement. 
It  is  for  the  Church  to  be  called  back  from  her  flirta- 
tion and  harlotry  with  the  money-gods,  and  thus  to  be 
spiritualised  by  contact  with  the  motive  and  spirit  and 
programme  of  Socialism. 

3.    The  Spiritual  Significance  of  Economic  Conditions. 

Thus  we  see  that  out  of  the  facts  and  forces,  the 
poverty  and  tragedy  of  our  economic  and  industrial  life, 
in  the  struggle  for  bread,  the  Socialist  vision  gives  new 
meaning  to  all  that  men  call  good  by  disclosing  the 
social  and  economic  base  of  ethics.  The  simplest  look 
will  reveal  this. 

There  is  not  a  great  evil  in  the  world  that  is  not 
fostered  by  Capitalism.  Coveteousness,  "which  is 
idolatry/'  tyranny,  subordination  of  the  very  souls  of 
men,  ruthless  disregard  of  human  life,  are  nutured  by 
Capitalism.  The  love  of  money,  once  declared  to  be  the 
root  of  all  evil,  becomes  almost  elevated  to  a  virtue 
under  the  hypnotism  of  Capitalism.  "  Laying  up 
treasure  on  earth/1  one  of  the  most  simple  exhibitions 
of  pure  mammonism,  is  sanctified,  praised,  and  accepted 


l6  THE  MESSIAH  COMETH  ;    RIDING 

by  existing  Christianity,  and  out  of  these  treasures  thus 
laid  up  they  replenish  their  ecclesiastical  exchequers. 
Human  strife  is  glorified  by  Capitalism  in  the 
form  of  competition.  And  nations  armed  to  the 
teeth  unleash  the  dogs  of  war,  involving  helpless 
populations  in  all  the  horrors  of  warfare,  for  no  other 
earthly  purpose  than  to  widen  the  markets  of  the  great 
capitalists. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  not  a  good  work  or  noble 
effort  of  the  race  that  is  not  impeded,  or  even  frustrate!, 
by  Capitalism.  Our  prisons  fill,  our  insane  asylums  are 
crowded,  prostitution  multiplies  in  the  streets,  the 
home  is  stricken,  hospitals  and  almshouses  are  crowded. 
Upon  every  philanthropy  of  sisters  of  charity,  Salvation 
Army  lasses,  and  charity  organisations,  demands  are 
heaped  that  they  cannot  possibly  respond  to.  The 
Socialist  movement,  with  its  Science  of  Economics, 
is  the  new  philanthropy — it  is  that  comprehensive 
social  programme  of  good-will  which  comes  not  to 
alleviate,  but  to  prevent  the  wholesale  poverty,  suffer- 
ing, and  degradation  inflicted  by  Capitalism. 

Even  the  work  of  converting  individual  souls  to  any 
spiritual  life  is  turned  into  a  caricature  of  real  salvation 
by  the  prevailing  ideals,  maxims,  and  practices  of 
Capitalism.  No  religious  body  in  existence  demands 
their  converts  to  renounce  the  world  of  Capitalism. 
Is  it  not  a  spiritual  tragedy  to  see  the  evangelist  and  the 
preacher  of  the  Gospel  open  the  consciences  of  souls 
about  the  merest  trifles,  offer  them  peace  through 
believing,  and  leave  them  as  unawakened  concerning 
the  colossal  anti-Christ  of  Capitalism  as  if  they  lived  on 
another  planet  ?  And  their  converts  go  on  straining  at 
gnats  of  personal  sin,  and  along  with  their  teachers 
swallow  whole  camels  of  social  and  industrial  iniquity. 
Nay,  more.  They  appeal  to  Scripture,  and  use  the 
very  name  of  Christ  to  sustain  this  unholy  system. 
Thus  individual  salvation  halts  for  power  and  depth 
and  a  mission  until  it  becomes  a  call  to  the  soul  to  lay 
down  life  for  the  sheep.  And  when  these  converts 


UPON    THE    ASS    OF   ECONOMICS.  17 

begin  to  lay  their  lives  down  for  the  Church,  they  must 
become  Christian  Revolutionists,  and  interrupt  the 
wolves  that  drive  the  sheep  from  the  pastures,  and  lay 
the  lambs  down  for  profit. 

4. — Social  Justice— the  First  Righteousness. 

The  first  general  fundamental  righteousness  is  social 
justice.  Concerning  this  I  must  make  myself  unmis- 
takably plain.  The  tragedy  of  our  present-day 
Christianity  is  its  moral  and  intellectual  ignorance  of 
social  justice.  The  moment  you  attempt  to  uncover 
the  social  injustices  of  Capitalism,  the  Christian,  the 
philanthropist,  the  pietist  begins  to  justify  his  own 
personal  relations  to  buyers,  or  sellers,  or  employes 
or  tenants.  His  conscience  is  individualistic.  It  has 
never  been  baptised  into  the  social  fact,  and  the  social 
sorrow,  and  social  wrong.  Permit  me  to  be  plain. 
There  is  none  of  us  good,  none  of  us  just,  none  of  us 
holy,  none  of  us  kind.  None  of  us — not  one — who  is 
Christian.  I  care  not  how  perfect  your  personal  life 
may  be,  how  kind  and  generous,  how  good-natured, 
how  faithful,  how  fair ;  I  care  not  how  religious  and 
devoted  and  prayerful ;  I  care  not  what  rapt  spiritual 
experiences  you  think  you  enjoy,  what  exaltation  of 
feeling,  what  ecstasy  of  soul.  You  are  a  social  sinner ! 
You  are  a  personal  actor  in  the  social  injustice. 
You  partake  of  the  greed  and  despotism  and  cruelty  of 
Capitalism.  You  cannot  individually  escape.  I  do 
not  wish  to  speak  harshly.  I  only  wish  you  to  think 
clearly. 

Social  justice  or  injustice  is  that  which  is  incarnated 
in  social  institutions,  of  which  we  are  all  partakers  as 
citizens.  As  a  unit  in  the  social  body,  you  are  guilty 
with  its  guilt,  or  saved  with  its  salvation.  Social  justice 
is  that  which  does  not  depend  on  the  mercy  or  goodwill 
of  certain  individuals,  however  good.  It  is  an  atmos- 
phere in  which  all  breathe. 


1 8  THE  MESSIAH  COMETH  :     RIDING 

That  your  child  may  attend  the  public  school,  that 
you  may  get  your  letters  through  the  post  office,  that 
you  may  walk  along  the  highway — these  are  not  by  the 
mercy  of  schoolmasters,  postal  officials,  or  landlords. 
It  is  your  social  right  on  equal  terms  with  any  other 
man.  It  is  a  goodness,  a  Tightness,  a  justice  that  is 
socialised  in  social  institutions  of  which  you  are  a 
member,  a  factor,  a  doer,  a  partaker. 

So  it  is  with  social  injustice.  As  long  as  Capitalism 
remains,  with  its  landlordism  and  monopoly,  and 
exploitation  of  labour,  you  are  a  sinner  in  its  sins ; 
you  are  unjust  in  its  injustice  ;  you  are  cruel  with  its 
cruelty  ;  you  are  brutal  with  its  monopoly.  You 
crowd  the  people  into  city  slums  ;  you  sweat  the  labour 
of  multitudes.  You  drive  the  unemployed  from  city 
to  city  ;  you  are  an  accomplice  with  the  long,  long 
crime  of  Capitalism. 

I  do  not  say  this  to  accuse  you.  I  say  this  to  point 
out  to  you  your  duty,  that  you  may  repent  of  this  social 
sin  and  bear  it  away.  The  human  soul  that  refuses  to 
acknowledge  his  complicity  with  this  social  crime,  and 
seeks  to  justify  himself  by  his  personal,  isolate  goodness, 
may  become  a  righteous  Pharisee,  but  he  cannot 
become  the  Messianic  soul  taking  upon  himself  the  race 
sin,  and  bearing  it  away  in  his  efforts  with  his  brothers 
to  establish  social  justice  upon  the  earth,  in  just,  social 
institutions. 

No  man  liveth  unto  himself.  All  the  world  serves 
all  the  world.  Who  picked  the  tea,  or  gathered  the 
salt,  or  planted  the  wheat,  or  ground  the  flour,  or  made 
the  cutlery  on  your  dinner-table  ?  Not  simply  the 
cook  who  prepared  your  meal,  and  the  maid  who  served 
it,  but  the  whole  world  of  human  labour  waited  upon 
you  in  the  vast  plexus  of  modern  industry.  Sailors, 
storm-tossed  on  the  hurricane-deck  ;  engineers,  flying 
through  the  night  over  the  rail ;  labourers  working 
till  their  backs  gave  out ;  shop-assistants,  battling  for  a  • 
decent  livelihood ;  little,  pale-faced  factory  girls, 


UPON   THE   ASS   OF   ECONOMICS.  19 

spinning  and  weaving  for  you ;  miners,  deep  in  the 
bowels  of  the  earth,  risking  life  ;  office  girls,  clicking 
typewriters,  for  long  hours  and  low  wages,  thousands 
of  miles  from  where  you  sit — all  of  these,  and  tens  of 
millions  more,  daily  pour  out  their  life-blood  in  the 
labour  markets  of  modern  industry  for  YOU. 

And  the  social  injustice,  the  industrial  oppression, 
the  commercial  tyranny,  the  economic  slavery,  they  all 
endure  because  of  the  fundamental  wrong  of  Capitalism, 
I  lay  at  your  door.  "  Thou  art  the  man  !  " 

We  are  members  of  one  another.  The  Science  of 
Economics  reveals  our  economic  sin  as  a  vast,  social 
cancer,  preying  upon  the  social  body.  Capitalism  is  the 
supreme  lie  of  the  world.  In  it  we  are  all  involved.  How 
can  any  speak  truth  ?  Our  other  little  lies  within  that 
huge  lie  are  all  little  tiddle-de-winks.  Our  imagined 
honesty  within  that  gigantic  dishonesty  is  a  trifle. 
Our  very  kindness  in  alms-giving  and  charity  within 
that  colossal  wrong  to  the  people  is  a  farce.  Our  keen 
scent  for  petty  crime  in  the  midst  of  this  all-enveloping 
and  respectable  crime  against  humanity  is  absolutely 
tragical.  Our  imagined  "  peace  "  of  soul  in  the  midst 
of  the  horrible  strifes  and  antagonisms  of  competition 
is  a  spiritual  opiate.  It  does,  indeed,  "  pass  under- 
standing/' The  best  piety  and  the  most  exalted 
religion  of  our  timid  lives,  lived  in  cowardly  silence 
without  protest  against  the  vast,  wholesale  sin  of 
Capitalism,  needs  to  be  repented  of.  And  except  your 
righteousness  exceed  that  kind  of  individualistic 
righteousness,  which  knows  not,  nor  repents  not,  of  its 
social  sin,  you  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven,  either  individually  or  socially. 

The  man  who  does  not  want  economic  justice  in  the 
use  of  land  and  machinery  for  his  fellow-man  wants 
nothing  for  his  fellow-man.  I  care  not  how  loud  his 
prayers,  or  how  exalted  his  religious  ecstasy.  The  first 
simple  demand  of  the  Messianic  movement  is  that  the 


20  THE  MESSIAH  COMETH  :     RIDING 

workers  of  the  world  shall  be  secure  in  the  chance  to 
labour,  and  secure  in  the  product  of  their  labour. 

No  man  can  say  he  wants  something  higher  for  men 
than  that  if  he  does  not  want  that  at  least.  The 
social  righteousness  preached  by  the  Social  Revolution 
is  a  lowly  thing — a  first  thing — an  initial  step  in  real 
righteousness.  There  is  still  room  for  the  highest,  but 
it  must  be  built  on  this  base  of  the  pyramid  of  righteous- 
ness. Just  as  the  lords  and  priests  and  ruling-classes 
of  the  world  in  all  ages  have  made  the  great  mass  of  the 
workers  the  base  of  the  social  pyramid,  so,  now,  the 
Gospel  of  Labour  makes  simple  Social  Justice  in  the  use 
of  land  and  machinery  the  base  of  the  pyramid  of  social 
righteousness.  You  can  build  nothing  on  top  until 
that  base  is  laid.  Let  us  not  joke  longer  with  God, 
thus  cheating  our  own  souls  and  defrauding  the  race. 

Social  justice  is  not  an  option  in  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
It  is  basic,  primal,  first.  The  man  who  wants  it  not, 
the  Church  which  wants  it  not,  want  nothing  of  real 
righteousness,  however  devoted  to  ritual  or  exalted 
by  emotion  they  may  be.  It  is  time  that  judgment 
began  at  the  house  of  God  in  this  matter.  Your  sneer 
at  the  Socialist  movement  will  come  back  upon  you. 
Beware,  lest  you  be  found  rejecting  the  Messiah. 
Beware,  lest  your  righteousness  be  discovered  to  be 
filthy  rags.  Beware,  lest  you  may  hear  that  stern  judg- 
ment, "  Inasmuch  as  you  permit  Capitalism  thus  to 
maltreat  these,  the  least  of  my  brethren,  thus  ye 
treat  Me."  "  Depart ;  I  know  you  not." 

Out  of  this  root  of  Economics,  then,  stuck  deep  into 
the  very  mud  and  muck  and  manure  of  the  world-life, 
grows  this  mighty  stalk  of  Justice  and  Industrial  Free- 
dom for  all  people.  It  is  for  this  cause  that  the 
Messiah  cometh  voicing  His  message  in  the  vocabulary 
of  economic  science  rather  than  in  the  dogmas  of 
theology,  codes  of  ethics,  or  creeds  of  Christianity. 
This  is  why  the  Son  of  Man  is  seen  standing  in  the  rough, 
uncultured  crowds  of  the  toilers  in  their  struggle  to  be 


UPON   THE  ASS   OF   ECONOMICS.  21 

free,  rather  than  among  the  temple-worshippers  in 
their  silent  reverie  and  stolid  complacency  in  the 
presence  of  social  injustice. 


IV. 
SPIRIT— ILLUMINATION. 

"  But  man  does  not  live  by  bread  alone.'*  Man  is 
the  Infinite  incarnate.  He  must  live  by  every  word— 
every  possibility  of  his  being — that  proceedeth  from 
the  mouth  of  Eternal  Reality.  There  is  a  divine 
meaning  to  human  life  that  baffles  interpretation. 
Man,  as  we  know  him,  is  something  to  be  surpassed. 
Is  there  anything  greater  in  all  the  universe  than  that 
which  is  inherent,  undisclosed,  occult,  hidden  in  the 
Soul  of  Man  ?  Did  the  Author  of  the  Universe  have  a 
particular  alien  sort  of  spirit  stuff,  different  from  the 
Ultimate  Being,  out  of  which  this  willing,  knowing, 
loving  Man  was  made  ?  Is  Love  the  one,  same, 
eternal,  substance  everywhere  ?  Is  Life,  Life,  wher- 
ever found,  the  same — the  Eternal  ?  There  is  nothing 
to  God— to  the  Absolute  Reality— that  is  not  the 
inheritance  of  man.  "  He  that  hath  seen  Me  hath 
seen  the  Father/'  said  He,  who  is  the  first-born  among 
many  brethren. 

1.— Socialism  makes  way  for  Man. 

Majestic  and  terrible  are  the  issues  of  the  Socialist 
movement.  Underneath  Capitalism  there  lie  awful 
explosives — sunk  there  by  seers,  sages,  and  saviours, 
who  loved  the  average  man,  and  in  loving,  found  him, 
glorified  him,  and  heralded  his  coming.  In  impeaching 
Capitalism  and  proclaiming  Socialism,  we  shall 
"  touch  off  "  some  of  those  deep  and  awful  revelations 
of  the  divine  significance  of  every  human  life.  The 
Socialist  movement  is  like  fire  ;  red,  real,  consuming, 
forcing  itself  upon  the  senses  with  realistic  might,  but 


22  THE  MESSIAH  COMETH  1     RIDING 

coming  forth  from  locked-up  invisible  areas,  and 
leaping  in  lambent  flames,  to  invisible  realms,  to  un- 
seen meanings,  to  spiritual  significances,  and  to  the 
occult  Freedoms  of  that  which  is  beyond  man,  as 
Capitalism  knows  him. 

Socialism  starts  out  with  the  most  intensely  prac- 
tical, matter-of-fact,  and  material  considerations  of 

Bread  and  Labour,  and  rises  to  the  highest  reach  of 
vision  concerning  the  cosmic  meaning  of  man. 

It  is  as  if  we  began  with  a  skeleton — cold,  rattling, 
forbidding, — a  bony  framework  of  statistics,  and  econo- 
mic laws  and  forces.  But  straightway  the  flesh  appears 
upon  that  skeleton,  the  heart  pulsates  with  blood,  the 
eye  glows  with  light,  and  we  see  the  meanings  of  Social 
Brotherhood,  the  Gospel  of  the  Social  Man.  And 
then,  behold  !  The  enfleshed  frame  throbs  with  spirit 
—the  transcendent — it  is  the  Eternal  incarnate — 
disclosing  angelic  splendours ! 

Thus  Socialism  enumerating  untilled  acres,  calling 
the  roll  of  the  slain  labourers,  measuring  the  power  of 
electric  energy,  calculating  the  speed  of  machines  and 
the  powers  of  labour  and  the  products  thereof,  is  pre- 
cipitating a  World-Revolution.  But  the  revolution 
comes  in  order  to  make  standing  room  for  this  god — 
that  man  is — that  every  last  one  of  us  may  live  out  in 
varied  and  beautiful  expression,  the  ultimate  meanings 
of  His  Being. 

2.— We  await  an  Illumined  Race. 

The  thing  we  have  crawling  the  earth  is  not  man. 

It  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be.  We  have 
had  the  saint-man,  the  soldier-man,  the  priest-man,  the 
capitalist-man,  the  slave-man — all  of  these  are  carica- 
tures of  man.  But  Man  has  not  yet  appeared. 

Victor  Hugo  makes  a  list  of  those  minds  that  reached 
the  hundredth  degree  of  intellectual  power.  There  are 
just  fourteen  in  the  list.  Dr.  Bucke  says  that  an 
ordinary  drawing-room  would  comfortably  contain  all 


UPON   THE   ASS   OF   ECONOMICS.  23 

the  men  who  in  the  centuries  have  attained  that 
Spiritual  Illumination  which  he  calls  Cosmic  Con- 
sciousness. Galton  declares  that  only  one  out  of  4,000 
of  the  English-speaking  people  exhibits  any  sign  of  real 
genius. 

What  can  we  expect  ?  We  have  had  a  slave  world, 
filled  with  brutal  soldiers,  whining,  drivelling  priests, 
or  cruel,  tyrannous,  persecuting  ecclesiastics,  non- 
conformist money-grubbers,  droves  upon  droves  of 
intellectual  and  physical  slaves.  Ezekiel  sat  in  the 
street  corner  and  ate  dung  to  dramatise  the  mental  and 
moral  state  of  any  man  who  would  consent  to  servitude 
— to  own  any  man  as  master.  With  the  moral  life  of 
man  whipped  with  fear  for  centuries  under  the  hand- 
cuffs of  authority ;  with  the  spiritual  life  of  the  soul 
still  poured  into  sickening,  mildewed  moulds  ;  with  the 
intellect  still  throttled,  or  abased,  afraid  to  speak  in 
pulpit  or  press,  in  public  or  private,  lest  the  bread  be 
taken  away  ;  with  the  bodies  of  men  exiled  from  the 
natural  bosom  of  the  earth  and  locked  in  the  nastiness 
of  Capitalism's  sordid  cities — how  can  we  expect  the 
glorious  Being,  Man,  to  emerge.  He  is  still  a  grub  in 
the  pupa.  He  has  yet  to  put  forth  the  beauteous 
wings  of  his  intellectual  and  cosmic  life.  He  is  a  bulb 
—not  yet  the  bloom.  Man  is  in  the  womb  of  civilisa- 
tion. The  birth-hour  approaches.  The  Son  of  Man 
cometh  ! 

This  Son  of  Man  is  something  greater  than  anything 
history  has  disclosed.  Even  the  great  specimens  that 
have  been  thrust  forth  in  such  severe  isolation  in  the 
paths  of  history  seem  one-sided.  The  great  heroes, 
conquerors,  sages,  and  saviors  but  hint  to  us  of  the 
fulness  yet  to  be,  in  full-orbed  glory.  Saints  disgust 
with  their  asceticisms  and  voluntary  poverty  and  other 
worldliness.  Alexander  and  Caesar  and  Napoleon, 
though  full  of  daring,  and  incarnating  cosmic  fearless- 
ness, offend  us  with  an  unnecessary  ruthlessness  of  pro- 
cedure. Our  philosophers  are  dreamers ;  their  great 
ideas  do  not  demonstrate  in  powerful  volition.  Our 


24  THE    MESSIAH    COMETH. 

social  revolutionists  are  wearisome  fanatics ;  they 
have  not  that  serenity  and  poise  that  we  expect  Truth 
to  display.  Our  Nature-lovers,  our  Thoreaus,  would 
woo  us  to  isolation  and  sequestration.  Our  very 
loftiest  spiritual  teaching  offers  us  a  species  of  thral- 
dom, and  invites  us  to  obedience,  and  only  slaves  obey. 
The  utmost  reach  of  science  presents  a  world  in  eternal 
chains  of  law.  But  the  Soul  of  Man  transcends  all  of 
these.  The  Soul  will  finally  refuse  to  be  saintly,  to  be 
ruled,  to  be  dominated.  The  Soul  refuses  to  be  inferior 
to  anything  or  anybody  anywhere  in  all  the  universe. 
The  Soul  refuses  isolation  to  Nature  or  from  Nature. 
The  whole  of  Nature  is  a  play-house  to  the  Soul.  And 
the  Soul  ever  and  ever  devours  its  gods  and  eats  up  its 
worlds  of  laws  and  principles.  The  Soul  of  the  Son  of 
Man  is  the  Eternally  Free.  Its  dream  is  its  true  reality. 
Freedom,  not  only  from  all  barrier,  but  to  all  expression, 
is  the  natural  atmosphere  and  climate  for  the  Son  of 
Man.  Slaveries,  servitudes,  bondages,  victimage  shall 
be  no  more  !  A  Free  Humanity  has  never  yet  been— 
but  the  hour  cometh  ! 

Man  is  the  tree  that  beareth  all  manner  of  fruits.  Man 
is  a  miracle-worker,  a  sage,  a  brother,  a  lover.  He  is 
musician,  artist,  medium,  voice  of  God  ;  an  Apollo  for 
Beauty,  a  Hercules  for  Labour,  a  Jesus  for  Brother- 
Love  ;  Joy-bringer,  Spirit-taught  divinity,  Illuminatus! 

The  Socialist  movement  comes  to  plant  that  tree 
which  man  is  in  Freedom  and  in  Brotherhood — and  give 
that  tree,  for  the  first  time  in  human  history,  a  chance 
to  shed  its  ripe,  rich  fruit  of  illumined,  inspired,  and 
emancipated  existence.  The  beast  is  the  ass  of 
Economics — but  the  goal  is  the  Messianic  Age.  All 
Hail! 


Moses  :  The    Greatest  of  Labour 
Leaders. 

MR.  WILSON  began  his  address*  by  a  humorous 
reference  to  the  number  of  tribes,  clans,  and 
nations  to  which  he  claimed  membership. 
He  frequently  told  his  English  audiences  that  he  was 
born  a  British  subject  under  the  Union  Jack.  When  he 
crossed  the  border  into  Scotland  he  assured  them  that 
his  mother's  people  originally  came  from  Scotland, 
and  were  strongly  marked  with  Scotch  characteristics, 
and  especially  of  the  religious  type — for  they  were 
Covenanters.  "  The  Irish  claim  my  streak  of  wit — 
and  they  are  right  " — said  the  speaker,  "  because,  for 
generations  my  father's  people  lived  in  Ireland — and 
my  grandfather's  tongue  was  heavy  with  Irish  brogue 
and  light  with  Irish  wit."  When  he  (Mr.  Wilson)  went 
among  the  French  he  claimed  kinship  because  before 
his  mother's  people  settled  in  Scotland  as  Covenanters 
they  were  Hugenots,  having  been  driven  from  France 
in  the  religious  persecutions.  He  had  been  on  a  speak- 
ing tour  in  Canada  just  before  coming  to  England,  and 
there  he  was  quite  at  home  for  he  had  been  actually 
born  and  reared  in  Ontario.  The  only  country  in 
which  he  had  spoken  his  message  where  he  could  not 
claim  immediate  race  connection  was  in  the  United 
States.  The  only  real  American  was  the  North 
American  Indian.  All  other  Americans  were  immi- 
grants or  the  descendants  of  immigrants.  On  that 
score  he  could  claim  to  be  as  good  an  American  as  any. 

*  This  pamphlet  is  printed  from  the  report  of  Mr.  Wilson's 
address  just  as  it  appeared  in  "  The  Halifax  Labour  News," 
June,  1908. 


MOSES :    THE    GREATEST 


SOCIALISM  INTERNATIONAL. 

"  But  this  humorous  reference  to  my  kith  and  kin 
and  country/*  continued  the  speaker,  "  is  an  introduc- 
tory word  to  the  idea  of  internationalism  which  is  at 
the  base  of  the  whole  Socialist  movement.  By  claiming 
many  countries,  I  claim  all ;  by  claiming  all,  I  claim 
none  in  particular.  The  Socialist  is  an  Internationalist. 
The  struggles  of  the  working  class  are  the  same  the 
world  over.  Their  problem  is  one.  Their  common 
sufferings  unite  them  in  a  common  cause.  And  the 
next  great  unifying  movement  of  the  globe  is  Socialism— 
the  Hope  Of  the  World.  Jap  and  Russ,  Hindoo  and 
Englishman,  Frank  and  German,  Canadian,  American, 
Australian — all  one  for  the  International  Co-operative 
Commonwealth. ' ' 

1.— A  World-Wide  Faith. 

Here  is  the  great  solvent  for  our  religious  strifes. 
Oriental  faith  and  Western  religion,  Protestant  and 
Catholic,  Christian  and  agnostic,  materialist  and 
spiritual  idealist — all  find  in  the  Socialist  movement  a 
blood-red  current  of  the  ultimate  Good,  and  the  Great 
Idea — Freedom,  Justice,  Brotherhood — the  Kingdom 
of  the  Good  in  the  actual  facts  of  our  common  life. 
The  prayer  of  Socialism  is  the  cry  of  the  people  for 
bread,  for  opportunity,  for  abundant  life.  Its  priests 
are  the  heroic  men  and  women  among  the  working  class 
who  are  seeking  to  organise  the  workers  for  their  final 
emancipation  from  age-long  slavery.  The  temples  of 
Socialism  are  not  made  with  hands.  The  sacred  bodies 
of  the  people —  these  are  the  sacred  temples. 

2.— The  Gospel  of  Humanity. 

This  great  gospel  of  humanity  is  the  swift  Herald  of 
Justice.  It  is  the  sweet  message  of  Human  Brother- 
hood. It  is  Lucifer,  "  swift  with  his  angels  out  of 


OF    LABOUR    LEADERS.  3 

heaven  propelled  "  coming  with  light  to  plant  "  the 
Seeds  of  the  World  to  be."  Socialism  is  the  great,  raw, 
elemental  Incarnation  of  the  Spirit  of  Democracy,  in 
World-History,  and  the  Spirit  of  Comradeship  in  the 
common  life.  Without  ritual,  ceremony,  temple, 
priest,  or  dogma,  Socialism  comes  to  fulfil  the  word  of 
the  Carpenter  who  said,  "  By  this  shall  all  men  know 
that  ye  are  my  disciples,  that  ye  love  one  another.1' 
Socialism  comes  to  fulfil  also  the  word  of  that  other 
brother  "  who  was  not  proud  of  his  songs,  but  of  the 
measureless  ocean  of  love  within  him — and  freely 
poured  it  forth,"  who  said,  "  I  will  make  the  continent 
indissoluble  ;  and  I  will  make  the  most  splendid  race 
the  sun  ever  yet  shone  upon ;  I  will  make  divine 
magnetic  lands,  with  the  love  Of  Comrades,  with  the 
lifelong  love  of  Comrades." 

3-— Socialism— the  New  Unity. 

As  Socialism  comes  to  give  unity  to  the  Working- 
Classes  of  the  whole  world  and  thus  to  dissolve  their 
historic  antagonisms  and  make  them  brothers  and 
comrades  in  a  Common  Cause,  so  the  Socialist  Move- 
ment is  the  Heir,  Incarnation,  and  Sum  of  the  historical 
heritage  of  the  race  in  Literature,  Art,  and  Science,  in 
Religion  and  Democratic  Government.  It  is  the  net 
plus  of  Human  Progress  and  Prophecy.  Nothing  that 
has  made  for  Human  Freedom  is  alien  to  us.  All 
revolutions  that  have  emancipated  the  race  are 
historically  present  in  the  Socialist  movement.  Our 
pulse  registers  them.  They  find  that  which  they 
prophesied  incarnate  in  our  militant  activity. 

All  the  great  seers,  sages,  and  saviors,  lovers  of  Man, 
and  martyrs  for  Freedom,  belong  to  us.  We  are  their 
incarnation.  What  they  lived  and  died  for  is  what  we 
live  and  die  for,  brought  up-to-date,  throbbing  in  the 
20th  century.  And  seeing  we  are  surrounded  by  so 
great  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  we  now  run  with  patience 
the  race  that  is  set  before  us. 


MOSES :    THE    GREATEST 


As  with  the  great  Souls  so  with  the  Great  Movements 
for  Freedom.  They  all  meet  in  this  mighty  Socialism 
as  the  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi  all  pour  into  one 
majestic  stream,  the  Father  of  Waters.  Socialism  will 
sum  up  and  make  secure  and  give  expression  to  all  the 
blood-bought  heritage  of  the  race — Religious  Liberty, 
Freedom  of  Thought,  Freedom  of  Person,  Freedom  of 
Speech,  Political  Freedom,  including  "  Votes  for 
Women,"  Freedom  of  Soul,  without  master,  without 
slave — Liberty,  Fraternity,  Equality. 

4.— The  Great  Souls  are  Ours. 

Socialism  being  thus  the  plexus  of  Human  Desire  and 
Passion,  the  sacred  ark  of  Human  Freedom,  and  the 
Gospel  of  Human  Brotherhood,  it  has  the  right  to 
exploit  for  its  propaganda  the  lives  of  Heroes, 
Emancipators,  and  Martyrs,  who  have  made  paths  for 
the  feet  of  man  from  bondage  to  liberty.  It  is  for  us 
to  expound  the  life  and  labours  of  the  Gracchi,  of 
Spartacus,  of  Bruno,  of  Hampden,  of  Columbus. 

The  heroic  soul  of  Jesus,  the  Hero  of  the  Common 
People,  the  Lover  of  the  Mob — belongs  to  us.  Eccle- 
siastical Christianity,  bolstering  up  the  Mammon-Gods 
of  •  Profit  and  Power  in  Capitalism,  has  forfeited  its 
right  to  the  name  and  the  Message  of  the  Carpenter  of 
Galilee.  He  belongs  to  us.  He  who  called  greasy 
fishermen  to  his  side,  and  gave  his  great  vision  of 
Human  Brotherhood  into  the  hearts  of  "  unlearned  and 
ignorant  men  " — He  will  not  mind  our  blunt  phrase 
and  broken  sentences. 

The  work  of  Moses  belongs  to  us.  Eliminating  those 
elements  that  are  purely  local  and  racial,  and  seeking 
for  those  essentially  human  and  universal  elements  in 
the  work  of  Moses,  it  is  the  Social  Movement  that  to-day 
inherits  the  spirit  that  led  that  great  Israelite  from 
Horeb  to  the  Court  of  Pharaoh.  It  is  the  Socialist 
Movement  that  utters  to-day  the  modern  cry,  "  Let 

my  People  Go  "  :    "  Say  unto  the  People  that  they  go 


OF    LABOUR    LEADERS.  5 

forward."  It  is  the  Socialist  Movement  that  to-day 
inspires  the  working  class,  smarting  under  the  task- 
masters of  the  Modern  Pharaohs,  and  which  presents  to 
them  a  Program  and  a  goal  for  their  deliverance. 

The  Socialist  movement  gets  repeatedly  baptised 
with  a  richer  and  deeper  consciousness  of  its  signifi- 
cance to  the  race-life,  as  it  gathers  up  the  total  desire 
and  passion  and  hope  of  mankind  into  itself.  Three 
great  historic  peoples  have  poured  their  influence  into 
the  stream  of  Modern  life — the  Greek,  the  Roman,  and 
the  Jew.  And  if  we  are  indebted  to  the  Greek  for 
culture,  and  the  Roman  for  administration,  to  the 
Jewish  people,  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  and  the  influence 
of  Jesus,  the  Jew,  we  owe  a  debt  for  conceptions  of 
Social  Justice,  and  Social  Righteousness  and  the 
ultimate  values  of  Human  Personality. 

5.— A  Bible  Argument  for  Socialism. 

It  is  my  purpose  this  evening  to  present  a  Socialist 
argument,  from  the  story  of  that  Ancient  Labour 
Movement,  chronicled  in  the  Book  of  Exodus  in  the 
Old  Testament,  and  particularly  from  the  work  of 
Moses,  that  greatest  of  historic  Labour  Leaders  and 
Statesmen. 

Time  will  not  permit  me  to  draw  the  parallel  in 
detail  at  every  point.  But  let  me  give  you  the  main 
points  in  which  the  great  world-wide  movement  of  the 
working-class  of  the  present  time  corresponds  with  that 
of  the  days  of  Moses  : 

1.  These  people  suffered  industrial  oppression  and 
social    injustice    at    the    hands    of    the    Pharaohs- 
Egyptian  bondage  then,   the  Injustice  of  Capitalism 
now. 

2.  There  came  the  summons  for  the  man  Moses  to 
organise   these   people   for  a   General   Strike,   and  to 
deliver  them  out  of  their  slavery  into  Freedom.     The 
Moses  of  the  Working-Class  of  to-day  is  the  Socialist 
Spirit,  the  Socialist  Message,  and  the  Socialist  Move- 


MOSES :    THE    GREATEST 


ment,  which  demands,  as  Moses  did,  "  Let  my  people 
go."  "  Say  unto  the  people  that  they  go  forward 
into  a  good  land,  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey." 

3.  They  went  forth  into  that  land.     They  reached 
the  land  of  Canaan.     This  is  before  us  as  Socialists. 
The  Canaan  of  modern  wage-slaves  is  the  Co-operative 
Commonwealth,    when   the   working-class   shall   have 
elected  their  representatives  to  establish  the  Right  to 
Work  and  Co-operative  Industry — the  Socialization  of 
all  means  of  life  and  labour  needed  to  make  the  people 
free  from  the  Capitalist  System. 

4.  Moses'  great  work  was  Social  Legislation,  and  the 
immediate  Social  Program  of  Moses  concerned  (i)  Land, 
(2)    Interest,    (3)    Tools — and   these   correspond   with 
the  movement  of  Labour  to-day  to  Socialise  Land, 
Capital,  and  Machinery.     The  parallel  is  striking  and 
full  of  instruction  and  inspiration  for  us  of  the  20th 
century. 


II. 

THE  OPPRESSION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 

Nothing  but  the  most  extreme  religious  pre-occu- 
pation  and  deep-seated  spiritual  individualism 
could  keep  any  reader  of  the  Bible  from  seeing  that  the 
whole  marvellous  history  of  the  Jews,  and  their  con- 
tribution to  Spiritual  Idealism,  culminating  in  the 
person  and  mission  of  Jesus,  is  directly  traceable  to  ft 
great  Labour  Movement,  a  Social  Revolution,  an 
Economic  Emancipation.  Christian  preachers  and 
workers  attack  the  Socialist  Movement  as  a  "  base, 
materialistic  movement/'  neglecting  the  higher  and 


OF   LABOUR   LEADERS.  j 

holier  things  of  life.  Clergymen  warn  their  young 
people  from  the  gross  materialism  of  Socialism.  The 
Church  boasts  of  the  Holy  Bible,  of  its  wonderful 
poetry,  the  depths  of  righteous  fervour  in  Old  Testa- 
ment prophecy.  The  Church  glorifies  Moses,  Joshua, 
Elijah,  Amos,  Isaiah,  and  Jesus.  And  modern  critics 
have  told  us  of  the  uncrowned  kings  in  Art,  Literature, 
Science,  and  Government  in  recent  centuries,  such  as 
Spinoza  in  philosophy,  Mendelssohn  in  Music,  Marx 
and  La  Salle  in  economics — all  Jews.  But  the  Church 
forgets  and  our  litterateurs  forget  that  the  base  and 
beginning  of  the  whole  after-product  of  the  Jewish 
people,  was  their  Economic  Emancipation,  a  Social 
Revolution  ;  a  re-adjustment  of  the  means  by  which 
they  made  their  bread.  As  I  have  said  many  times  : 
Freedom  first.  Industrial  freedom  first,  and  the  rest 
follows.  Nothing,  I  say,  but  wilful  ecclesiastical  blind- 
ness and  a  religious  individualism,  unwarranted  by 
either  the  Old  or  the  New  Testament,  could  prevent 
the  simplest  mind  from  seeing  this  fundamental  truth. 
This  is  the  gross  materialism  of  Socialism ! 

1.— An  Old  Story  of  Industrial  Oppression. 

These  Jews  were  a  horde  of  dishonoured,  des- 
pised, and  degraded  slaves.  Whatever  social 
excellence  they  might  have  had  from  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob,  had  long  since  been  worked  out  of  them 
in  the  slave-pits  of  the  Pharaohs.  As  long  as  the  ruling- 
class  needed  an  abundance  of  cheap  labour  they 
permitted  them  to  multiply.  When  their  numbers 
became  so  great  that  they  might  become  strong 
enough  to  revolt  against  their  masters,  then  the  rulers 
introduced  a  policy  of  infant  mortality  by  violence 
against  the  male  children.  They  also  increased  their 
burdens  to  still  further  take  the  spirit  out  of  them. 

It  makes  your  blood  boil  even  now  to  read  the  Exodus 
account  of  this  injustice.  It  is  a  plain  story  of 
industrial  oppression  by  a  set  of  self  -chosen  _  tyrants, 


MOSES :    THE    GREATEST 


dictators,  and  lords  of  the  people — a  ruling-class,  living 
in  splendour  and  idleness  and  extravagance  on  the 
product  of  the  toil  of  the  helpless  working-class. 

2. — Listen  to  the  Bible  Narrative. 

"  They  did  set  over  them  task  masters  to  afflict  them 

with  their  burdens The  Egyptians  made 

the  children  of  Israel  to  serve  with  rigour.  And  they 
made  their  lives  bitter  with  hard  bondage,  in  mortar, 
and  in  brick,  and  in  all  manner  of  service  in  the  field  ; 
all  the  service  wherein  they  made  them  serve  was  with 
rigour  (and  no  dictionary  will  ever  reveal  what  that 
word  "rigour"  meant).  And  Pharaoh  said,  'Ye 
make  them  rest  from  their  burdens,  and  he  commanded 
the  taskmasters  and  officers,  saying,  Ye  shall  no  more 
give  the  people  straw  to  make  brick,  as  heretofore,  let 
them  go  and  gather  straw  for  themselves,  and  the  tale 
of  bricks,  which  they  did  make  heretofore,  ye  shall  lay 
upon  them  ;  ye  shall  not  diminish  ought  thereof,  for 
they  be  idle  ....  let  then  more  work  be  laid 
upon  the  men,  that  they  may  labour  therein,  and  let 
them  not  regard  the  vain  words  (!)  of  Moses.'  (That 
sounds  like  a  warning  of  Capitalism  to  the  working- 
class  against  the  teachings  of  Socialism  !).... 
And  the  taskmasters  speeded  them  up,  saying,  Fulfil 
your  works,  your  daily  tasks,  as  when  there  was  straw. 
And  the  foremen  selected  from  the  children  of  Israel 
were  beaten  because  they  did  not  get  the  full  tale  of 
work  out  of  the  under-slaves  ....  and 
Pharaoh  said,  '  Ye  are  idle  !  ye  are  idle  !  '  "  (What  a 
modern  sound  that  has  !) 

3. — The  Suffering  of  the  Slaves. 

Let  me  read  to  you  the  account  of  this  industrial 
oppression  given  recently  by  an  archaeologist : 

"  Here  in  Egypt  are  the  tombs  of  Kings, 
stupendous  monuments  not  alone  of  monarchial 
glory  and  pride,  but  of  the  reckless  waste  of 
innumerable  human  lives.  Deep  in  the  sands  dug 


OF   LABOUR    LEADERS.  ^ 

a  myriad  slaves,  ignorant  of  everything  save  the 
stern  necessity  of  yielding  up  every  bit  of  strength 
in  their  bodies,  and  every  last  gleam  of  intelligence 
in  their  minds,  to  the  demands  of  the  King.  In 
the  quarries,  on  the  roads,  and  on  the  walls  for 
scores  of  years  there  toiled  these  thousands  of  men, 
wageless  and  half-fed,  overworked  and  scourged, 
sick,  dizzy,  and  exhausted.  The  only  hospital 
they  knew  was  the  taskmaster's  whip,  which 
stimulated  into  one  last,  agonised  effort,  the 
exhausted  muscles  of  a  used-up  body  or  the  frenzied 
movement  of  a  reeling  brain.  Whether  the  glory 
of  monarchs  demanded  the  speedy  completion  of 
some  expression  of  his  selfish  pride,  or  a  too  rapidly- 
growing  race  must  be  reduced  to  manageable 
proportions  without  massacre,  the  whole  picture 
of  that  useless,  grinding  toil  testifies  to  an  Ugly, 
wicked  contempt  for  human  life." 
This  extract  will  help  us  to  get  the  historical  setting 
of  the  Social  and  Economic  Emancipation  wrought  by 
Moses. 

These  overworked,  under-fed  slaves  were  broken  in 
heart.  They  lacked  spirit  to  revolt  against  such 
conditions.  They  lacked  the  intelligence  necessary  for 
organised  resistance.  They  sank  down  in  despair  in 
the  face  of  the  power  of  Pharaoh.  They  were  too  timid 
to  act  separately,  too  ignorant  to  combine.  Where 
could  they  go  ?  What  could  they  do  ?  They  did  not 
know  enough  geography  to  think  of  Canaan.  And 
apathy  and  anguish  overcame  them,  as  it  is  written, 
"  The  children  of  Israel  sighed  by  reason  of  their 
bondage,  and  they  cried,  and  their  cry  came  up  unto 
God  by  reason  of  their  bondage/1 

III. 
MOSES,  THE  DELIVERER,  MEETS  GOD. 

When  this  brutal  Pharaoh  issued  his  edict  to  slay  the 
male  children,  one  slave  woman  hid  her  babe  in  the 


10  MOSES  :    THE   GREATEST 

bulrushes,  where  Pharaoh's  daughter  came  to  bathe. 
By  a  clever  ruse  of  mother-love  this  slave  woman  got 
herself  appointed  nurse  to  her  own  child.  But  Moses 
became  the  adopted  child  of  the  princess.  He  was 
reared  in  the  king's  court,  educated  in  the  palace,  and 
instructed  in  all  the  learning  of  the  Egyptians,  in  the 
University  at  On. 

But  he  never  fogot  his  own  class.    This  son  of  a  slave, 

reared  in  the  royal  courts,  when  he  was  grown  looked 
out  upon  the  sufferings  of  his  slave  brothers  and  sisters. 
He  was  moved  with  indignation,  and  one  day  the 
beating  of  his  fellows  went  too  far,  and  in  a  fit  of  anger 
he  killed  an  Egyptian  taskmaster.  For  this  Pharaoh 
put  a  price  upon  his  head,  and 

1.— Moses  Fled  to  Midian. 

There  Moses  pondered  over  the  terrible  wrongs  and 
sufferings  of  his  people.  His  propaganda  of  the  deed 
against  individual  hirelings  of  the  system  had  done  no 
good.  When  an  educated  man  of  the  temper  of  Moses 
was  led  to  violently  smite  this  slave-driver  down,  we 
may  be  sure  his  very  soul  had  been  wrought  to  a  high 
pitch  of  feeling  concerning  his  brethren.  And  for  all 
the  long  years  he  tended  sheep  in  Midian,  he  had  time 
to  think  it  all  out.  "  How  can  my  brethren  be  delivered 
from  the  slavery  in  Egypt  ?  " — that  was  his  question. 

Moses,  as  you  observe,  was  a  gross  materialist.  Why 
did  he  not  invent  some  pretty  rose-water  "  gospel  " 
to  assure  his  people  that  no  matter  how  long  they 
worked,  andhow  wretchedly  they  were  fed  and  clad 
and  housed,  and  no  matter  how  early  they  died,  they 
and  their  children,  if  they  would  be  "  good "  and 
"  content J>  with  the  station  in  which  God  had  placed 
them,  would  eventually  get  a  mansion  in  the  skies,  and 
•a  white  robe  and  a  harp  in  the  grand  orchestra.  No 
Moses  was  a  man.  He  was  not  a  semi-male  and  semi- 
female  entity  whose  soul  could  be  satisfied  to  see  his 
people  rot  on  earth,  and  take  their  joy  in  hopes  of 
heaven.  He  was  a  man — as  I  have  said.  He  had  red 


OF   LABOUR   LEADERS.  II 

blood  in  his  veins.     And  his  blood  was  on  fire.     It  was 
the  passion  of  freedom  that  flamed  within  him. 

Well,  there  he  pondered.  "  How  can  I  set  my  people 
free  ? "  And  he  entered  a  singular  psychological 
experience.  I  must  omit  any  attempt  to  interpret  the 
account  of  that  experience.  I  will  state  the  facts. 
Moses  got  into  bad  company — for  a  man  in  his  state  of 
mind.  He  met  God.  God  met  him.  I  am  not  going  to 
discuss  God.  I  feel  like  Walt  Whitman  when  in 
announcing  the  fact  of  his  Illumination,  he  said,  "  I 
have  despised  riches  ...  I  have  stood  up  for  the 
stupid  and  crazy  ...  I  have  hated  tyrants 

Argued  not  concerning  God  .  .  ." 

Moses  met  God. 

Theologians  have  tried  to  explain  the  character  of 
God.  They  have  failed.  There  is  something  terrifi- 
cally abrupt  in  the  blunt  announcement  of  the  Divine 
Presence  to  this  lonely  meditating  shepherd.  It  is  a 
revelation  of  the  character  of  God.  "  Moses  !  Moses! " 
said  God.  "  Here — I,"  answered  Moses.  And  then  ! 

2. — God  Said  Five  Things. 

(i).  This  mean  desert  spot — this  sheep  walk — is  holy 
ground,  for  I  am  about  to  send  you  to  emancipate  a 
working-class  from  industrial  injustice. 

(2).  "  I  have  surely  seen  the  affliction  of  my  people. 
The  cry  of  the  children  of  Israel  is  come  unto  me,  and 
I  have  seen  the  oppression  wherewith  the  Egyptians 
oppress  them/* 

(3).  "  I  have  heard  their  cry  by  reason  of  their  task- 
masters." Observe  that  God  was  clear  in  his  economics. 
I  speak  reverently.  God  did  not  seek  for  individual- 
istic accusations  of  vice,  and  drink,  and  idleness,  and 
thriftlessness — against  these  people.  The  Word  of 
God,  which  you  people  profess  to  prize,  says  "  by 
reason  of  their  taskmasters."  We  Socialists  agree. 

(4).  "I  am  come  down  to  deliver  them  out  of  the 
hand  of  the  Egyptians,  unto  a  land  flowing  with  milk 
and  honey. " 


12  MOSES  :    THE    GREATEST 

(5).  "  Come,  now,  therefore,  and  I  will  send  thee  unto 
Pharaoh,  that  thou  may'st  bring  forth  my  people  out  of 
Egypt." 

I  said  Moses  got  into  bad  company.  I  repeat  it. 
He  was  bad  enough.  He  had  killed  a  taskmaster — 
had  fled — and  was  here  plotting  the  liberation  of  his 
people.  He  was  a  silent  conspirator  against  Pharaoh's 
tyranny.  And  the  God  that  spoke  was  of  the  very  same 
mind  as  Moses.  "  I  have  heard  their  cry — it  is  their 
taskmasters — these  slaves  must  be  delivered — Go  ! — 
I  will  be  with  you  !  " 

Speaking  again  with  utmost  reverence  this  God  is 
"  materialistic " — if  the  criticisms  of  the  Socialist 
movement  from  noted  city  pulpits  are  to  be  hearkened 
to.  I  say,  that  as  this  announcement  of  God  stands  it 
is  grossly  materialistic — Not  one  word  about  their  souls  ! 
Not  one  syllable  about  selecting  the  good  ones  and 
leaving  the  wicked  people  in  the  hells  of  Egypt !  Not 
one  hint  of  the  doctrine  of  immortality  !  Not  one  hint 
about  dogma,  doctrine,  belief,  church,  ism,  Bible ! 
How  much  God  might  have  learned  if  he  had  only 
waited  for  the  modern  sermons  of  the  soothsayers  of 
Capitalism  !  But  no.  God  says,  "  I  have  seen  the 
oppression  of  the  people  :  I  have  heard  them  cry  under 
the  curse  of  these  taskmasters  ;  I  am  going  to  deliver 
them  to  a  free  land  " — land,  mind  you — and  freedom 
from  social  wrongs.  "  And  now,  Moses,  thou  art  the 
Servant  of  the  Lord  if  thou  wilt  go  and  bring  the  people 
out." 

3. — Slaves  :   Oppression  :   Milk  :    Honey. 

Really  now.  Why  does  not  God  use  religious  for- 
mulae, and  ecclesiastical  phraseology,  and  theological 
terminology.  In  short,  Why  is  God  not  orthodox? 

Consider  the  vocabulary  of  God.  I  copy  from  the 
Bible  lying  before  me :  "  People,  affliction,  Egypt, 
cry,  taskmasters,  sorrows,  deliver,  land,  good  land, 
large  land,  oppression,  bring  them  forth,  out  of  Egypt, 


OF    LABOUR   LEADERS.  13 

milk,  honey  !  "  These  are  the  terms  of  a  science  of 
economics.  If  you  want  to  find  them  discussed,  read 
Karl  Marx  and  Socialist  literature,  not  systems  of 
theology  !  Did  you  ever  think  of  that  ?  Imagine  God 
talking  about  such  common  things  as  slaves,  oppression, 
land,  milk,  and  honey  ! 

If  such  a  God  as  that  should  speak  such  words  as  that 
and  call  to  the  professing  God-fearing  bishops,  and 
clergy,  and  preachers,  and  church-members — He  would 
utterly  upset  their  peace  of  mind,  and  precipitate  them 
into  the  Socialist  camp  ! 

The  Socialists  are  supposed  to  have  no  God,  and  to 
dishonour  God,  to  be  atheists  in  short — because  "  They 
see  the  affliction  of  the  people,  by  reason  of  task- 
masters," and  are  determined  to  bring  them  out  of 
bondage  into  Industrial  Freedom— from  the  Egypt  of 
Capitalism  to  the  Canaan  of  the  Co-operative  Common- 
wealth ! 

While  the  Christians  have  a  God  and  glorify  him  by 
refusing  to  see  the  affliction  of  the  people,  and  defending 
the  wrongs  of  the  taskmasters,  and  voting  at  every 
election  to  keep  the  people  in  the  bondage  of  the  Egypt 
of  Capitalism  ! 

If  any  preacher  or  church-member  reads  or  hears 
these  lines,  may  I  be  forgiven  for  jarring  your  com- 
placency, by  announcing  to  you  that  your  allegiance 
to  Capitalism  is  your  disobedience  to  the  spirit  of  the 
God  of  Moses,  and  a  denial  of  His  will  concerning  the 
freedom  of  men.  No  wonder  the  common  people  of 
the  wide-world  are  repudiating  a  religion  that  repu- 
diates itself  ! 


IV 
MOSES  :   THE  LABOUR  LEADER. 

It  may  seem  to  some  that  I  have  over-proved  my  case. 
I  have  made  Moses  out  to  be  more  of  a  materialist 
(if  interest  in  labour  conditions  of  the  workers  is 


14  MOSES  :    THE    GREATEST 

materialism)  than  the  most  radical  modern  Socialist. 
And,  to  make  matters  worse,  by  merely  repeating  the 
words  of  the  Angel  of  the  Lord,  which  summoned 
Moses  to  deliver  the  people,  I  have  reverently  shown 
that  the  same  interest  in  plainest  terms  is  the  concern 
of  God. 

1. — The  Limitless  Value  of  Human  Personality. 

I  do  not  say  for  one  instant  that  there  are  no  concerns 
but  material  concerns.  I  do  not  say  for  one  instant 
that  there  are  not  heights  and  depths  of  mental  and 
spiritual  illumination,  and  of  moral  and  social  per- 
fection and  loveliness  for  every  human  being.  I  have 
no  desire  to  hint  that  Moses  thought  nothing  about  the 
higher  development  when  I  say  that  when  God  spoke 
to  Moses  God  never  mentioned  the  souls  of  these  slaves, 
nor  anything  of  a  religious  character  whatsoever,  that, 
therefore,  there  is  no  meaning  to  life  except  the 
Capitalistic  ideal  of  "  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we 
die." 

In  describing  the  labour  condition  of  these  slaves,  in 
a  previous  paragraph,  we  see  that  their  whole  treat- 
ment arose  from  the  private  control  of  their  basis  of 
labour,  and  was  sustained  by  a  ruthless  disregard  for 
human  life.  The  very  opposite  of  this  was  the  spirit 
of  Moses.  The  sacredness  and  possibilities  of  every  one 
of  these  slaves  was  taken  for  granted  by  Moses,  as  much 
as  gravitation  is  taken  for  granted  by  a  bricklayer  or  a 
stonemason.  When  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  says,  "  I 
have  seen  the  oppression  of  these  people,  and  I  have 
heard  their  cry,  and  I  have  come  to  deliver  them  " — 

the  ultimate,  absolute,  value  of  these  people  each  to  him- 
self is  taken  for  granted. 

So  it  is  with  us  of  the  Socialist  movement.  We  will 
not  take  second  place  in  our  estimate  of  the  sacredness 
and  rights  of  every  man  in  himself.  The  church  defines 
man  as  "  soul."  Very  well.  Pack  that  word  as  full  of 
meaning  as  human  love  and  intelligence  is  able  to  pack 


OF   LABOUR   LEADERS.  15 

it.  Perfect  your  definition  with  the  aid  of  poetry  and 
philosophy.  And  then  we  Socialists  shall  keep  the  issue 
still  open.  We  Socialists  say  that  a  Capitalist  Civilisa- 
tion absorbed  in  greed  and  gold  and  profit,  and  the 
aristocracies  of  these  mammon-gods — Capitalist  civilisa- 
tion is  not  able  to  define  the  soul  of  man.  "  By  their 
iruits  ye  shall  know  them."  The  value  that  Capitalism 
and  Capitalistic  religion  places  upon  human  souls  is 
not  measured  by  your  religious  talk,  but  by  your  ruth- 
less use  of  land  and  machinery  for  private  profit,  and 
your  Capitalistic  exploitation  of  human  lives,  a  system 
that  coins  their  blood  into  profit.  The  labour  market 

registers  your  measure  of  care  for  souls. 

We  Socialists  take  it  for  granted  that  the  children  of 
the  working-man,  who  were  fed  on  stolen  pigs'-food  in 
Newcastle,  are  infinitely  more  valuable  than  can  be 
expressed  by  any  religion  which  supports  a  civilisation 
that  produces  such  misery  and  degradation  in  the  midst 
•of  limitless  abundance. 

We  do  not  complain  against  your  spiritual  conception 
Of  life.  We  protest  against  your  crass,  coarse,  crude, 
mammonistic  conception  of  life,  which  permits  human 
beings  to  be  treated  as  commodities — as  things — as 
wood,  hay,  stubble — as  grist  for  the  Capitalist  mill. 

God's  determination  to  bring  these  people  out  of 
Industrial  Oppression  was  his  way  of  showing  that  the 
"  Heart  of  the  Eternal  is  most  wonderfully  kind." 
Your  determination  to  keep  the  working-class  in  the 
grip  of  Capitalism  is  your  atheism  and  infidelity  to  that 
God. 

Moses'  conviction  that  he  could  not  live  in  peace  with 
the  Universe  unless  he  moved  heaven  and  earth  to 
deliver  these  people  out  of  intolerable  conditions  of 
Social  Injustice,  was  the  revelation  of  his  love  to  his 
fellows,  and  the  measure  of  his  devotion  to  all  Of  their 
interests  up  to  the  highest. 

God's  materialism  (we  rather  like  the  word)  is  a 
revelation  of  the  Spirituality  of  the  Divine  Nature. 
The  materialism  of  Moses  is  the  open  vision  of  his  soul, 


1 6  MOSES  I    THE    GREATEST 

that  takes  it  for  granted  that  a  whipped  slave  is 
infinitely  more  valuable  than  all  the  obelisks,  palaces, 
and  pyramids  that  a  proud,  haughty,  and  ruthless 
tyranny  could  erect.  We  would  to  God  that  the 
modern  men  who  profess  to  speak  for  God  could  get 
baptised  with  the  materialism  of  Moses.  Such 
materiaSism  makes  men.  I  have  said  before,  Moses 
was  a  man,  with  red  blood  in  his  veins.  He  was  not  a 
semi-male,  semi-female  entity,  speaking  rose-water 
spiritual  recipes,  delicious  to  the  hearkening  ears  of  a 
ruthless  ruling  class.  He  was  a  Man. 


2.— The  First  Genera!  Strike. 

The  direct,  matter-of-fact  way  that  Moses  goes  about 
this  task  is  like  a  revelation.  Modern  Realism  might 
take  lessons  from  the  Book  of  Exodus. 

1.  The  Lord  said  to  Moses,  "  Go  unto  Pharaoh,  and 
say,  Let  my  People  go." 

2.  And    the    Lord    said    to    Aaron,    "  Go    into    the 
wilderness  and  meet  Moses. " 

3.  And  Aaron  went,  and  met  him  and  kissed  him. 

4.  And  Moses  told  Aaron  that  he  was  on  his  way  to 
deliver  his  people  from  Pharaohism  and  take  them  out 
of  Egypt. 

5.  And  Moses  and  Aaron  gathered  all  the  elders  of 
the  people  together  and  told  them  of  the  plan. 

6.  And  the  people  believed — and  it  is  said  that  when 
they   heard    that    the    Lord   had    Booked    upon    their 
affliction,    "  then  they  bowed  their  heads   and  wor- 
shipped/' 

In  short,  the  program  of  Moses  is  (i)  to  Pharaoh — 
"  Let  my  people  go  "  ;  (2)  to  the  People — "  Get  out 
of  Egypt."  The  modern  parallel  is  "  Capitalism  must 
be  abolished/' — "  On  to  the  Co-operative  Common- 
wealth." 

Moses  then  passes  the  word  around  and  the  whole 
Working-Class  is  organised  into  tens,  and  hundreds, 

and  thousands.    He  was  the  first  great  trade  unionist 


OF   LABOUR    LEADERS.  1 7 

Fortunately  for  his  enterprise  they  knew  they  had 
only  one  trade — slavery — it  was  all  one  whether  they 
hunted  stubble,  or  dug  the  mud,  or  wheeled  the  mud, 
or  laid  stone.  They  were  Slaves.  Moses  was  too  wise 
a  man  to  think  that  he  could  save  one  class  of  these 
labourers  without  saving  all.  He  did  not  wish  to 
emancipate  one  aristocratic  group,  and  leave  another 
"  sweated  "  by  the  taskmaster.  "  Ye  are  all  slaves  ; 
ye  are  all  brethren  ;  organise  as  one  man,  and  march  to 
Freedom/'  Moses  was  the  first  great  advocate  of  the 
Class-Struggle.  He  was  not  a  theorist,  however,  in 
political  economy.  He  was  a  militant  strategist — a 
doer. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  read  the  minutes  of  the 
meetings  in  which  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  the  elders 
organised  this  First  General  Strike,  now  mooted  again 
throughout  the  world,  as  a  possible  weapon  of  militant 
International  Socialism.  Pharaoh  is  not  much  good 
when  he  has  to  dig  his  own  mud,  and  bake  his  own  bread, 
and  make  his  own  bed.  No. 

According  to  the  minutes  of  their  meetings  as  pre- 
served in  the  chapters  of  Exodus,  we  do  know  that 
the  first  hints  of  revolt  were  met  by  severe  conditions 
at  the  hands  of  the  taskmasters  ;  and  we  learn  that  the 
slaves  set  upon  Moses,  saying  that  they  were  worse  off 
than  before  he  came — a  thing  often  repeated  in  modern 
history.  And  Moses,  it  is  said,  laid  it  back  on  the  Lord 
in  very  direct  language,  "  Since  I  came  to  Pharaoh  to 
speak  in  thy  name,  he  hath  done  evil  to  this  people  ; 
neither  hast  thou  delivered  thy  people  at  all."  Moses 
was  going  to  keep  the  Lord  to  his  materialistic  program. 
But  the  resources  of  Eternal  Justice  were  not  exhausted, 
and  if  you  read  the  minutes  in  Exodus  vi.,  and  on  to 
Exodus  xii.,  you  will  read  the  history  of  a  Class- 
Struggle  that  may  clear  up  your  economics. 

3. — The  Lord's  Singular  Advice. 

At  one  of  the  meetings  Moses  reported  that  he  had 
a  revelation  from  God  that  the  night  before  the  General 


1 8  MOSES  :    THE    GREATEST 

Strike  was  called,  every  man  and  woman  should  borrow 
jewels  of  gold  and  jewels  of  silver  and  raiment  from  the 
Egyptians.  "When  ye  go,"  said  the  Lord,  "ye  Shall 
not  go  empty."  "  Ye  shall  spoil  the  Egyptians,  and  put 
the  jewels  and  the  raiment  on  your  own  sons  and  your 
own  daughters."  It  is  singular  that  God  should  dare 
to  thus  interfere  with  the  sacred  private  property  of 
the  Egyptians,  in  the  interest  of  these  thriftless  slaves  ! 
Why  had  they  not  "  saved  "  for  a  rainy  day  ?  We 
are  not  informed,  except,  that  every  day  appears  to 
have  been  a  rainy  day  for  them.  And  then,  of  course, 
the  ruling  classes  had  saved  it— I  had  almost  forgotten— 
and  two  classes  cannot  retain  the  same  product  of 
labour  at  the  same  time.  That  is  so.  That  is  worth 
knowing. 


4.— A  Dramatic  Passover. 

What  a  simple,  direct  word,  that  word  "  passover  " 
is.  In  the  minds  of  most  of  the  people,  it  is  a  mystical 
religious  Jewish  festival.  But  come  to  earth.  That 
word  and  that  feast  belong  to  us.  It  sums  up  in  the 
most  perfect  simplicity  the  circumstances,  the  fact,  the 
memory,  of  that  night  of  triumph,  when  millions  of 
organised  slaves  were  led  by  Moses  to  PASS  out  of  the 
slavery  of  their  taskmasters  OVER  into  a  new  social 
order.  It  is  first  an  act,  then  a  fact,  then  a  memory, 
then  a  religious  feast.  And  finally  it  becomes  so 
traditional  that  its  raw,  real,  matter-of-fact  significance 
is  lost.  And  then  it  is  expounded,  explained,  and 
preached  about,  and  actually  exploited  to  prevent  the 
oppressed  of  modern  times  to  PASS  out  of  the  Egypt  of 
Capitalism,  OVER  into  the  Promised  Land  of  Social 
Justice  and  Industrial  Freedom. 

Turn  to  your  Exodus  again  and  read  the  detail. 
Moses  was  an  optimist.  That  is  to  say,  a  man  of  faith — 
all-conquering  faith.  He  laughed  at  impossibilities, 
I  learn  this  from  the  fact  that  he  renounced  the 


OF    LABOUR    LEADERS. 


Egyptian  calendar,  and  began  the  counting  of  the  years 
while  his  people  were  still  bleeding  in  the  back  from  the 
whips  of  the  taskmasters.  He  said,  "We  go  out  this 
year."  Moses  was  not  afraid  of  delivering  the  people 
too  rapidly.  That  is  a  disease  of  the  moderns. 
'  This  shall  be  the  first  month  of,  the  first  year,"  said 
Moses.  "  We  don't  count  existence  by  the  slavery 
years.  We  begin  to  count  the  years  with  this  year. 
And  this  year  we  vote  as  one  man  to  get  out.  And  we 
are  going. — That  is  all.  Get  ready." 

There  is  nothing  more  dramatic  in  all  human  history. 
He  celebrates  the  Passover  before  they  pass  over.    I 

said  Moses  was  a  Man.  Moses  was  not  a  liberal  nor  a 
progressive.  He  was  a  revolutionist.  No  more  Egypt 
for  him.  Egypt  had  been  tried,  and,  like  modern 
Capitalism,  had  failed.  It  enriched  the  Pharaohs  out 
of  the  labour  of  the  impoverished  workers.  And  the 
Lord  said,  "  I  will  smite  the  Egyptians."  "It  is  a 
night  to  be  much  observed  unto  the  Lord  for  bringing 
them  out  Of  the  land  Of  Egypt."  Six  hundred  thousand 
men — (100,000  more  than  the  present  unemployed  in 
the  kingdom) — marched  in  ranks  of  five,  besides  women 
and  children,  and  a  mixed  multitude,  with  flocks  and 
herds,  for  Canaan.  And  the  "  pillar  of  cloud  by  day 
and  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night,"  reduced  to  doubtful 
mystic  significance  by  modern  religious  teachers,  stood 
before  this  moving  camp  of  toil-driven  people.  I  shall 
not  dare  explain  away  the  miraculous  elements.  Things, 
greater  than  miracles  would  happen  to  the  Working- 
Class  if  they  would  rise  as  one  man  to  inaugurate  the 
Brotherhood  of  Man,  in  Socialised  Industry.  Let  future 
generations  bear  me  record. 

Pharaoh's  horsemen  and  chariots  and  army  pursue* 
You  remember  that  Pharaoh  wanted  them  to  vote 
"  liberal,"  and  stay  in  Egypt ;  that  is,  they  might  go 
off  a  step  or  so  from  the  abject  slavery,  but  not  out  of 
it.  But  when  he  found  they  meant  business,  that  his 
supply  of  cheap  labour  was  about  to  be  exhausted,  he 


20  MOSES  I    THE    GREATEST 

showed  fight.  At  this  point  the  slaves  showed  signs  of 
surrender,  and  complained  bitterly  against  Moses.  "  Is 
not  this  the  word  that  we  did  tell  thee  in  Egypt,  saying, 
Let  us  alone  that  we  may  serve  the  Egyptians  ?  For 
it  had  been  better  for  us  to  serve  the  Egyptians  than 
to  die  in  the  wilderness." 

5.— A  Great  Social  Salvation. 

And  then  Moses  uttered  that  famous  text  of  triumph 
which  has  been  such  a  source  of  pulpiteering  ever  since. 
41  Fear  ye  not,  stand  still,  and  see  the  Salvation  of  the 
Lord,  for  the  Egyptians,  whom  ye  have  seen  to-day, 
ye  shall  see  them  again  no  more  for  ever."  (The  text 
usually  ends  with  the  second  comma).  Note  the  kind 
of  Salvation  of  the  Lord  Moses  talked  of.  I  think  this 
is  the  first  time  the  phrase  "  Salvation  of  the  Lord  "  is 
mentioned  in  the  Bible. 

Let  me  state  it  again.  The  Salvation  Of  the  Lord, 
here  referred  to  by  Moses,  is  the  deliverance  of  the  people 
out  of  the  power  of  their  Industrial  Masters,  who  con- 
trolled the  Sand  and  the  instruments  of  labour,  and  hence 
also  controlled  life  itself,  and  all  its  possible  develop- 
ment. This  lesson  must  be  rubbed  into  the  conscience 
of  the  religious  people  of  our  day. 

"  The  Lord  shall  fight  for  you,"  said  Moses.  When 
Moses  showed  a  disposition  to  parley  with  God,  the 
Lord  said,  "  Wherefore  criest  thou  unto  me. — Speak 
unto  the  children  of  Israel  that  they  go  forward  !  " 
And  he  did  so.  And  just  then  the  cloud — whatever  it 
was — lifted  from  before  them,  and  stood  between  the 
army  of  tramps  and  the  regulars  of  Pharaoh.  And  the 
rest  of  the  story  follows.  The  slaves  marched  to 
freedom.  Panic  seized  the  Egyptian  host.  The  sea 
engulfed  them.  "  There  remained  not  so  much  as  one 
of  them  " — says  the  record.  "  And  Israel  saw  the 
Egyptians  dead  upon  the  sea  shore.  And  they  saw 
that  great  work  which  the  Lord  did  upon  their 
oppressors ;  and  the  people  feared  the  Lord,  and 


OF   LABOUR   LEADERS.  21 

believed  the  Lord,  and  his  servant  Moses. "  I  think  a 
Lord  like  that  is  worth  while — to  oppressed  slaves,  and 
over-worked  exploited  masses  !  (But  rather  an  unfor- 
tunate deity  for  the  exploiters  and  oppressors  !) 

For  the  Lord  said,  "  Against  all  the  gods  of  Egypt, 
I  will  execute  justice."  It  is  still  to  be  heard,  the  voice 
of  the  Lord : — "  Against  all  the  gods  of  Capitalism 
I  will  execute  justice." 


V. 

MOSES:  THE  LABOUR  LEGISLATOR  AND 
STATESMAN. 

Thus  had  Moses  organised  the  workers  and  marched 
them  out  of  Egypt  into  Freedom.  Pharaoh's  hosts 
were  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  The  first  May-day  of 
victory  was  celebrated  with  song  and  dance. 

Moses  had  proved  himself  a  successful  Labour 
Leader.  He  had  led  the  first  Great  Strike  and  had  won 
out.  But  that  was  only  the  beginning  of  his  great 
work.  He  must  now  become  a  Labour  Legislator,  a 
Labour  Statesman. 

Moses  was  not  an  M.P.,  nor  a  cabinet  minister,  nor 
a  priest,  nor  a  pastor.  He  was  indeed  a  Shepherd  of 
his  people.  And  unlike  modern  Shepherds  he  found 
pasture  for  his  Sheep.  That  I  regard  as  the  first  busi- 
ness of  pastors  and  shepherds.  The  briefest  outline 
of  the  first  Acts  of  Moses  give  us  the  principles  of  the 
Social  Revolution  needed  for  our  times. 

1.— Water. 


The  dance  is  over,  and  the  very  next  verse  in  the 
record  says,  "  they  found  no  water/1  or  what  they  did 
find  was  bitter.  And  it  is  said  "  Moses  cried  unto  the 
Lord/1  I  want  to  show  you  how  the  gross  materialism 
of  this  man  Moses  does  not  shed  itself.  Why  did  he 
not  give  them  sermonettes  on  the  Spiritual  Fountains 


22  MOSES  :    THE    GREATEST 

of  which  he  himself  evidently  drank  ?  That  would 
have  been  so  easy  !  No.  They  needed  water  ;  water 
to  drink  they  must  have.  They  faced  physical  neces- 
sity. Water  is  a  greater  immediate  need  than  food. 

Moses  led  them  to  water  first. 


2.— Bread. 


In  45  days  after  leaving  Egypt,  as  they  entered  the 
second  wilderness,  supplies  gave  out.  The  com- 
missary department  failed.  Evidently  they  must 
have  "  borrowed  "  considerable  in  Egypt.  And  they 
began  to  murmur  against  Moses.  They  were  not  like 
our  modern  "  unemployed/'  who  turn  around  and 
vote  for  policies  and  parties  that  produce  unemploy- 
ment. They  held  the  Prime  Minister  responsible  for 
he  had  his  hand  on  the  helm.  They  said,  "  Are 
you  going  to  kill  this  whole  assembly  with  Hunger?" 
A  very  materialistic  proposition.  And  this  forces 
Moses*  next  imperative  Act.  And  he  cried  unto  the 
Lord.  And  the  Lord  is  materialistic  also.  The  Lord 
said,  "  I  have  heard  the  murmurings  of  the  children  of 
Israel :  I  will  rain  bread  from  hea.ven.  At  even  you 
shall  eat  flesh,  and  in  the  morning  ye  shall  be  filled 
with  bread  ;  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord." 
And  it  was  so.  Think  of  the  Lord  of  Heaven  and  earth 
descending  to  such  a  commonplace  materialistic  matter 
as  flesh  and  bread  to  eat ! 

3.— A  Health  Department. 

Along  with  the  provision  for  these  two  immediate 
necessities  of  the  people,  Moses  established  a  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Health.  He  showed  the  people  that 
none  of  the  terrible  diseases  that  they  were  swept  off 
with  in  Egypt  should  fall  upon  them.  I  cannot  go 
into  the  detail  of  his  hygienic  arrangements ;  but 
many  a  modern  army  has  not  preserved  itself  from 
disease  as  did  this  horde  of  slaves. 


or    LABOUR    LEADERS.  23 

The  Socialist  spirit  and  Message — which  is  the 
Moses  to-day — shows  how  the  ravaging  diseases  that 
smite  the  working-classes  are  due  to  over-work,  under- 
feeding, bad-housing,  congested  and  unsanitary  dwel- 
lings. Small-pox,  diphtheria,  fevers  of  all  kinds,  above 
all,  the  White  Plague  of  consumption,  that  carries 
off  the  working-class  by  hundreds  and  tens  of  thousands 

—all  these  are  diseases  of  the  Egypt  of  Capitalism. 
4.— Three  Great  Planks  in  Moses'  Platform. 

(1)  The  Socialist  Movement  demands  that  the  land 
shall  be  socially  owned  by  the  whole  people ;    that 
land  monopoly  be  made  impossible  ;    that  every  man 
shall  be  guaranteed  equality  of  opportunity  in  the  Use 
of  Land.     Land  is  the  Social  Base  of  Human  necessity. 
It  is  water.     It  is  Bread.     It  is  life  itself.   Landlordism 
is  an  unspeakable  social  curse. 

The  land,  according  to  Moses,  was  never  to  be  private 
property.  The  land  belonged  to  the  Lord — not  to  the 
landlords — this  is  the  Jewish  form  of  Land  Nationaliza- 
tion. That  means  Social  Ownership  for  the  Equality 
of  Opportunity  to  all.  In  case  exchanges  of  use  should 
occur  in  process  of  time,  in  the  year  of  Jubilee,  every 
50  years,  the  land  all  went  back  to  the  original  tribes 
and  families.  Any  developing  in- Justice  was  nipped 
in  the  bud.  Socialists  do  not  ask  for  a  reduplicate  of 
Moses'  land  laws.  But  we  do  demand  the  twentieth 
century  application  of  the  principle  involved.  There 
is  no  solution  of  the  problem  of  the  unemployed,  and 
poverty  will  grow  apace,  until  landlordism  is  abolished, 
and  the  land  restored  to  the  People. 

(2)  The  Socialist  Movement  demands  that  the  Capital 
needed  for  the  equipment  of  Industry,  at  least  for  the 
fundamental   needs   of   the   people,    shall   be   Socially 
Owned.     The  first  need  of  the  people  is  the  Right  to 
Work.     No  man  should  have  to  beg  another  man  the 
chance  to  work.     That  is  slavery — slavery  of  the  worst 
form,  in  some  respects. 


24       MOSES  :  THE  GREATEST  OF  LABOUR  LEADERS. 

The  second  form  in  which  the  power  of  Capitalism 
is  exercised  is  by  the  laws  of  Interest.  "  If  thou  lend 
money  to  any  of  my  people  that  is  poor,  then,  thou 
shalt  not  be  to  him,  as  an  usurer,  neither  shalt  thou  lay 
upon  him  usury."  Here  not  only  the  practice  of  usury 
is  forbidden,  but  the  exercise  of  the  spirit  or  attitude, 
or  manner  of  the  money-lender,  who  holds  you  at  his 
mercy,  is  forbidden.  It  is  all  nonsense  to  say  that 
"  usury  "  means  unlawful  rate  of  interest.  Interest  on 
money  at  all  is  strictly  forbidden.  The  early  Church 
fathers  vehemently  preached  against  it.  Capitalism 
has  succeeded  in  utterly  silencing  the  modern  pulpit  on 
these  questions. 

The  Socialist  Movement  demands  Social  Ownership 
of  Capital,  and  thus  the  receipt  of  the  total  product  by 
the  people  who  earn  it. 

(3)  Under  the  law  of  Moses,  the  tools  of  the  worker 
could  not  be  seized  for  debt.  What  good  would  this 
guarantee  of  land  be  if  he  had  not  tools  to  work  it  ?  I 
just  mention  this  matter  in  passing.  Social  Ownership 
of  Capital,  just  referred  to,  involves  Social  Ownership 
of  Machinery — our  present  form  of  Tools.  As  Socialists 
we  demand  the  guarantee  to  every  man  of  the  Right  of 
Access  to  the  Mechanical  Equipment  of  Civilisation  in 
order  that  he  may  labour  and  provide  for  his  existence. 

Surety,  this  Statesmanship  of  Moses,  that  meets  the 
primal  needs  of  the  people,  which  prevents  land 
monopoly,  abolishes  interest,  and  guarantees  to  the 
worker  his  tools,  is  full  of  inspiring  instruction  to  the 
men  of  our  day. 

And  when  the  Bible  is  used  as  an  apology  of  Capi- 
talism, it  is  a  fearful  perversion  ;  and  when  the  name 
of  God  is  used  as  a  defence  of  Capitalism,  we  may  well 
ask,  Is  the  Lord  you  refer  to,  the  Lord  who  said  unto 
Moses,  "  I  have  seen  the  affliction  of  the  People,  and 
I  am  come  down  to  deliver  them.  Go  now,  and  bring 
them  forth." 


The   Hebrew   Prophets  and  the 
Social   Revolution. 

"  X  TO  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time."  Certain 
I^J  impressions  or  feelings  are  interpreted  as  the 
*•  "  presence  of  God,"  and  certain  states  of  mind 

and  will  as  the  "  Will  of  God."  Men  who  believed  they 
were  thus  moved  upon  by  the  Divine  Presence,  and 
inspired  to  utter  the  Divine  Will,  have  given  to  man- 
kind a  particular  literature,  and  this  literature  has 
been  called  the  Word  of  God.  So  far  as  our  Western 
civilisation  is  concerned,  that  Word  of  God  is  known 
as  the  Holy  Bible,  consisting  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  Scriptures. 

The  Old  Testament  was  the  Sacred  Book  of  the  Jews 
before  the  Christian  era.  This  has  been  accepted  by 
the  Christian  world  as  co-ordinate  with  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Together  they  form  the  basis  of  scriptural 
appeal.  No  discrimination  is  made  in  favour  of  one 
as  against  the  other  in  the  public  preaching  and  teach- 
ing of  Christendom.  Whatever  discrepancies  critical 
scholarship  may  find  in  the  text,  whatever  differing 
degrees  of  inspiration  may  be  attributed  to  the  various 
writers,  the  Bible  is  still  the  sacred  volume  of  the 
Christian  Church  and  the  acknowledged  fount  of 
spiritual  wisdom  and  truth  to  the  Western  world. 

Now  this  Western  civilisation  is  passing  through  a 
great  Social  Revolution— the  greatest  in  all  human 
history.  The  spiritual  base  of  this  revolution  is  the 
urge  of  the  soul  of  the  downmost  man  for  fulness  and 
freedom  of  life.  The  least  economic  demand  of  the 
revolution  is  the  abolition  of  power  and  privilege  and 
monopoly  in  natural  resources  and  industrial  equip- 
ment, and  such  a  degree  of  co-operative  administration 


2  THE   HEBREW    PROPHETS 

of  industry  as  shall  guarantee  to  every  man  the  com- 
plete physical  base  and  social  environment  of  a  full  and 
free  life.  Age-long  despotisms  are  to  perish  in  the 
fuller  triumph  of  democracy  in  the  industrial  field. 
The  goal  of  this  world-wide  revolution  is  the  overthrow 
of  world-wide  Capitalism. 

Up  to  this  present  writing  the  Christian  Church, 
which  holds  and  expounds  the  Bible — the  Word  of 

God— is  the  moral  and  spiritual  bulwark  of  Capitalism. 

The  conscience  of  Capitalism  is  peaceful  and  unaccused 
by  the  teachers  of  the  oracles  of  God.  The  members  of 
the  Church,  her  young  people,  her  children,  have  not 
yet  heard  from  their  ordained  teachers  that  Capitalism, 
as  a  system  of  industry,  is  in  any  sense  contrary  to  the 
Word  or  Will  of  God.  The  most  powerful  opponents 
and  hinderers  of  a  peaceful  revolution  are  the  avowed 
and  accredited  ministers  of  the  Word.  By  silence  and 
by  open  defence  they  constitute  themselves  as  the 
spiritual  police  to  guard  the  ill-gotten  gains  of 
Capitalism.  The  shepherds  have  not  only  abandoned 
the  sheep  to  the  industrial  wolves,  which  fleece  and 
devour  the  people,  but  these  shepherds  openly  defend 
the  wolf  in  his  depredations  by  appeal  to  the  Word  of 
God,  which  they  are  ordained  to  preach.  Or,  if  they 
ignore  the  revolution,  in  its  purpose  and  programme, 
their  contention  is  that  the  Will  of  God  concerns 
individual  souls,  individual  sins,  and  personal  salva- 
tion. To  deal  specifically  with  the  social  conscience, 
concerning  definite  social  sins  organised  in  social 
institutions,  to  call  the  people  to  a  great  social  repent- 
ance, to  summon  them  from  Social  Injustice  to  a  great 
Social  Salvation — that  is  considered  to  be  beyond  the 
function  of  the  preachers  of  the  Word.  When  the 
preachers  do  discuss  the  wrong  inherent  in  Capitalism, 
their  programme  is  to  mend,  but  not  to  end  the 
injustice.  They  do  not  lay  the  axe  to  the  root  of  the 
tree.  They  would  put  a  new  patch  on  the  rotten  gar- 
ment of  competitivism.  They  would  put  the  new  wine 
of  freedom  into  the  vile  old  bottles  of  wage-slavery. 


AND    THE    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  3 

It  is  my  purpose  in  this  address  to  appeal  to  the 
Hebrew  prophets  as  a  justification  of  the  general  spirit 
and  direction  of  the  Social  Revolution,  and  to  show 
that  if  they  spoke  the  Word  and  Will  of  God,  that  Word 
and  Will  belongs  to  us  of  the  Socialist  movement,  and 
not  to  the  Church  which  stands  as  the  apologist  and 
defender  of  Capitalism.  The  Church  which  refuses  to 
face  the  social  problem,  or  when  dealing  with  that 
problem  stands  as  the  antagonist  of  Socialism  and  the 
apologist  of  Capitalism,  denies  both  the  spirit  and  the 
message  of  the  prophets  of  Israel.  They  thus  reject 
what  they  themselves  declare  to  be  the  Word  of  God. 


THE  PROPHETS  IN  GENERAL. 

To  the  average  mind  a  prophet  is  one  who  predicts 
coming  events.  But  this  is  a  very  subordinate  element 
in  the  Hebrew  prophets.  They  were  primarily 
utterers,  announcers,  heralds  of  the  Truth,  to  their 
own  people,  and  to  their  own  generation — prediction 
entering  in  only  as  the  inevitable  logic  of  contem- 
porary events.  Their  God  was  not  a  God  of  abstract 
theology,  but  a  God  of  history  and  Providence.  They 
never  discussed  theological  formulae.  They  declared 
the  Will  of  God  in  relation  to  the  actual  life  and  institu- 
tions of  their  nation  and  times.  They  lived  in  the  very 
throes  of  passing  events.  They  told  the  plain  and 
unvarnished  truth  about  facts  and  events.  Had  they 
lived  in  our  day  they  would  have  quoted  statistics 
with  lightning  effect.  They  would  have  uncovered  the 
raw  and  bleeding  sores  of  our  industrial  life.  They 
were  realists.  Their  inspiration  was  born  out  of  the 
realities  of  life.  Fact,  before  the  very  face  of  anyone 
who  would  simply  look,  was,  to  the  prophet,  the  Voice 
of  God.  When  these  facts  ate  into  his  consciousness, 
and  he  dropped  the  plummet  of  truth  and  justice  upon 
them,  then  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon  him.  And 


THE    HEBREW    PROPHETS 


he  became  so  identified  with  the  Will  of  Jehovah  as 
opposed  to  the  wrong  about  him  that  his  very  per- 
sonality seemed  the  Divine  incarnate.  The  elemental 
sense  of  right  and  humanity  in  his  own  soul  was  the 
Voice  of  the  Lord  and  his  ground  of  appeal.  He 
needed  no  other.  This  applied  to  the  passing  events 
constituted  the  Will  of  God.  And  when  the  prophet 
spoke  under  this  power,  he  declared  the  Word  of  God. 
He  had  no  Scripture  to  appeal  to.  He  made  Scripture. 

This  word  he  uttered  with  tremendous  directness  and 
vehemence.  God  said  unto  Amos  "  Strike  !  "  Jere- 
miah declares  this  word  was  as  a  fire  in  his  marrow 
Scholars  tell  us  that  the  utterance  of  the  prophet  Joel, 
in  the  original  Hebrew,  sounds  like  the  rattle  of 
musketry,  or  the  roar  of  artillery,  as  if  the  prophet 
would  literally  fire  upon  them  with  the  Word  of  God. 
And  Hosea  says,  "  I  have  hewed  them  by  tne 
prophets  " — literally  gashed  them — "  I  have  slain  them 
by  the  word  of  my  mouth/'  These  men  do  not  argue. 
They  announce  and  declare.  So  penetrating  and 
illuminating,  like  lightning ;  so  fearless  and  direct, 
like  weapons  ;  so  uncompromising,  like  truth,  were  the 
words  of  these  mighty  men,  that  millions  of  our  race 
through  long  ages  have  acknowledged  their  inspiration, 
and  said,  "  Surely  this  is  the  Word  of  the  Lord."  So 
high  did  these  men  stand  as  spokesmen  for  the  Eternal 
that  when  the  great  prophet  of  Nazareth  appeared 
seven  hundred  years  later  they  could  not  acknowledge 
him  in  higher  terms  to  the  popular  mind  than  to  say, 
"  He  is  one  of  the  prophets." 


II. 
THE  PROPHET  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS. 

I  have  said  that  the  prophet  faced  fact,  that  he 
watched  the  march  of  events.     Fact  seemed  to  be  the 


AND    THE    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  5 

wax  in  which  his  word  was  a  seal.  He  dropped  the 
plummet  of  justice  and  righteousness  upon  these  facts 
and  events.  He  does  not  deal  in  abstractions.  He  is 
no  dreamer,  but  an  actor  in  the  midst  of  affairs. 

Now,  before  we  can  see  the  social  significance  of 
the  message  of  the  prophets,  and  the  relation  of  that 
word  to  the  present  Social  Revolution,  we  must  take 
note  of  the  social  conditions  at  the  time  in  which  they 
speak. 

1. — The  Age  of  Commercialism. 

Israel  was  then  (800-700  B.C.)  passing  out  of  the 
simple  agricultural  stage  into  a  commercial  career 
among  the  nations.  The  story  of  the  social  conditions 
in  which  these  prophets  appear  reads  like  pages  from 
the  history  of  our  own  times,  in  which  an  age  of 
machinery,  with  all  the  attendant  wrongs  of  commer- 
cialism, has  drawn  the  people  from  the  land  and 
herded  them  in  great  cities,  there  to  be  exploited  as 
helpless  victims  caught  in  the  maelstrom  of  world- 
forces. 

Historians  of  the  time  of  Amos  and  Micah  and  Isaiah 
tell  us  that  the  newly  developed  trade  fell  into  the 
hands  of  plutocrats.  Wealth  concentrated  in  the 
hands  of  the  few.  Huge  private  estates  were  formed 
out  of  the  once  common  lands.  The  poor  landowners 
were  bought  out  or  fell  into  the  power  of  their  rich 
creditors,  and  were  ejected  by  violence  and  false 
judgment.  The  peasant  proprietors  were  destroyed. 
The  yeomanry  perished.  The  cities  grew  apace,  filled 
with  the  exiles  from  the  land.  Here  they  met  the  upper 
millstone  of  usury  and  oppression. 

Inevitably  there  developed  a  luxurious  and  corrupt 
upper  class.  The  aristocracy  racked  their  brains  for 
new  ways  of  consuming  the  surplus  wealth  that  they 
had  wrung  from  the  poor.  They  built  magnificent 
palaces,  furnished  in  ivory  and  beautified  with  art. 
They  had  summer  houses  and  winter  houses,  town 


6  THE    HEBREW    PROPHETS 

houses  and  country  houses,  while  the  poor  had  not 
where  to  lay  their  heads.  This  wealthy  class  enriched 
the  temples  of  religion  with  their  generous  gifts,  and 
lavishly  endowed  the  religious  teachers.  "  The  rich 
nobles  were  steeped  in  sensual  luxury,  the  court  was 
full  of  gallantry ;  and  feminine  extravagance  and  vanity 
gave  tone  to  aristocratic  society,  which,  like  the  noblesse 
of  France,  on  the  eve  of  the  Revolution,  was  absorbed 
in  gaiety  and  pleasure,  while  the  masses  were  ground 
down  by  oppression  and  the  cry  of  their  distress  filled 
the  land." — (Robertson  Smith,  in  "  The  Prophets  of 
Israel.")  "  All  social  bonds  were  loosed  in  the 
universal  reign  of  injustice."  "  Every  man  for  himself, 
and  no  man  for  his  brother."  But  so  great  was  the 
wealth  and  splendour  of  the  rich  that  it  dazzled  the 
eye  of  all  officialdom.  Priest  and  preacher  interpreted 
the  growing  wealth  as  a  sign  of  prosperity  and  as  a  mark 
of  Jehovah's  presence  among  His  people.  The 
shepherds  forgot  the  poor  out  of  whose  labours  this 
wealth  was  extracted.  The  priests  spent  their  days 
in  a  delightful  optimism.  'The  glare  of  wealth,  the 
fulsome  love  of  country,  the  rank  incense  of  a  religion 
that  was  without  morality — these  thickened  all  the 
air,  and  neither  the  people  nor  their  rulers  had  any 
vision." — (Prof.  George  Adam  Smith,  in  "  The  Twelve 
Prophets  "). 

2.— The  Rich  and  the  Poor. 

The  gulf  between  the  rich  and  the  poor  became  wider 
and  wider.  The  rich  were  lifted  away  from  the 
struggles  of  the  poor,  and  used  these  improverished  and 
exploited  people  as  pawns  for  their  game.  Micah 
says  that  the  wealthy  "  stripped  the  skin  off  the  poor, 
and  their  flesh  off  their  bodies."  Zechariah  declares 
that  the  rich  and  powerful  dealt  with  the  people 
actually  as  "  buyers  and  sellers  of  sheep."  The  mighty 
are  veritable  sheep  merchants.  Amos  declares  that  the 
social  injustice  is  so  great  as  to  "  cause  the  sun  to  go 


AND    THE    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION. 


down  at  noon,  and  to  darken  the  earth  in  the  clear  day." 
Isaiah  pronounces  judgment  for  the  ruling  classes: 
"  For  ye  have  eaten  up  the  vineyard  :  the  spoil  of  the 
poor  is  in  your  houses  !  What  mean  ye  that  ye  beat 
my  people  in  pieces,  and  grind  the  faces  of  the  poor  ?  " 
Such,  then,  were  the  social  conditions  in  Judah  and 
Israel  when  the  prophets  burst  upon  them  with  the 
oracles  of  Jehovah.  Throw  into  the  picture  our  age 
of  machinery — the  smoke  of  factory  towns,  the  dull 
monotony  of  the  homes  of  the  working-class,  the 
armies  of  the  unemployed,  the  grim  workhouse,  child 
labour,  sweating,  the  game  of  the  Stock  Exchange, 
and  a  few  leaping  6o-h.p.  motor-cars — and  the  picture 
is  modern  enough.  The  rich  pile  up  their  gains,  the 
poor  struggle  on,  God  only  knows  how  ;  the  religious 
ceremony  and  enthusiasm  proceed  unabated.  We 
need  only  an  Amos,  dashing  like  a  lion  out  of  the  desert 
into  the  midst  of  a  high  religious  ceremony,  or  into  a 
revival  meeting,  to  interrupt  the  scene  in  the  name  of 
the  poor  ;  or  a  Micah,  wailing  the  bitter  cry  of  the 
oppressed  ;  or  an  Isaiah  at  court  rebuking  the  proud 
aristocracy,  to  give  us  a  return  of  the  prophetic  period. 


3.— Hence  the  Message  of  the  Prophets. 

The  new  social  conditions  precipitated  the  message 
of  the  prophets.  Out  of  the  new  economic  situation 
there  sprang  new  ethical  values.  And  out  of  this  new 
economic  and  ethical  vision  there  bloomed  a  new  con- 
ception of  the  spiritual  meaning  of  life.  And  so  it  is 
to-day.  The  new  vital  word  of  the  Lord,  ethical  and 
spiritual,  to  this  generation  is  being  born  out  of  our 
economic  and  social  conditions.  The  Social  Revolution 
holds  and  utters  the  prophetic  word.  What  the  Hebrew 
Prophets  were  to  the  social  conditions  of  their  time, 
the  Social  Revolution  is  and  is  to  be  to  our  time.  From 
the  spirit  and  message  and  labours  of  the  prophets  we 
may  gather  insight  and  inspiration. 


S  THE    HEBREW    PROPHETS 

III. 

THE   PROPHETIC   MESSAGE   PRIMARILY  SOCIAL 
AND  POLITICAL. 

Now  what  was  the  burden  of  the  message  of  these 
men  of  God  ?  Was  it  the  message  of  the  evangelist 
and  revivalist  ?  Was  it  individualistic,  dealing  only 
with  the  personal,  spiritual  life  and  private  morality, 
ignoring  the  social  needs  of  the  people,  and  the  social 
sin  in  unjust  social  institutions  ?  Nay,  verily !  It 
was  the  very  opposite  of  that.  These  prophets  Of 
the  Lord  did  not  strain  at  gnats  of  individual  sin,  and 
swallow  camels  of  social  injustice  and  industrial 
oppression.  They  dealt  primarily  with  the  public 
morality  of  the  whole  people,  as  expressed  in  the 
institutions  and  functions  of  the  national  life.  Their 
concern  was  not  primarily  with  the  so-called  religious 
life,  but  with  the  common,  practical,  work-a-day  life  of 
the  people. 

1.— The  God  of  Israel. 

In  modern  religion  the  thought  is  "  God  and  the 
soul  "  ;  with  Israel  the  basic  idea  is  "  God  and  the 
people  "  in  their  collective  capacity.  Let  us  remember 
that  the  character  of  Jehovah  was  first  made  manifest 
as  the  chief  actor  in  a  mighty  Social  Deliverance.  The 
first  word  of  God  to  Moses  was  this  :  "I  have  seen  the 
affliction  of  my  people,  by  reason  of  their  taskmasters, 
and  I  am  come  down  to  deliver  them/'  God  reveals 
himself  as  hearing  the  cry  of  a  working-class  suffering 
from  unjust  social  institutions,  and  determined  upon 
their  economic  emancipation.  The  very  name  of  God 
meant  nearly  nothing  until  He  had  delivered  the  people 
from  Egyptian  bondage.  The  name  Israel  means 
41  God  fighteth."  Jehovah  meant  to  these  people 
first :  Freedom — from  industrial  slavery  ;  and,  second  : 
Justice  and  Equity  in  their  new  social  state.  The  God 
of  Moses  and  the  Prophets  was  the  God  of  Freedom, 
Justice,  and  Social  Righteousness ;  the  friend  of  the 


AND    THE   SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  9 

oppressed  and  the  terror  of  the  oppressors.  While  the 
God  of  modern  Capitalistic  religion  calls  upon  the 
people  to  worship  Him  in  their  slavery,  the  God  of 
Israel  called  the  people  to  worship  on  the  ground 
that  He  had  brought  them  up  "  out  of  the  house  of 
bondage."  Such  Scripture  as  they  possessed  at  the 
time  of  the  prophets  was  a  record  of  the  great  national 
deliverances  through  which  Jehovah  had  led  them. 
The  words  "  salvation  "  and  "  redemption, "  now  used 
almost  wholly  in  respect  to  states  of  the  individual 
soul,  in  the  early  Old  Testament  writings,  refer  almost 
exclusively  to  social  and  national  deliverances. 

2.— The  Social  Message. 

With  such  a  history  and  such  a  revelation  of  the 
character  of  God,  no  prophet  could  possibly  go  forth  in 
Israel  like  a  modern  minister  or  evangelist,  to  deal  with 
merely  personal  sins,  ignoring  fundamental  social 
unrighteousness,  or  to  offer  a  personal  salvation  to  the 
few  who  might  accept  it,  and  ignoring  the  social  deliver- 
ance the  whole  people  needed. 

Nearly  all  the  texts  quoted  from  the  prophets  by 
modern  preachers  are  lifted  right  out  of  the  context 
and  utterly  deprived  of  their  social  significance,  and 
then  forced  to  do  service  in  a  religious  individualism, 
for  which  they  were  never  intended.  When,  for 
example,  Isaiah  cries  out  to  his  people,  "  Though  your 
sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow ; 
though  they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool/' 
he  is  dealing  with  social  sins.  He  has  just  scorned  their 
religious  prayers,  sacrifices,  and  ceremonies,  and  pleads 
for  plain,  Simple  justice  as  alone  pleasing  to  God. 
"  Your  hands  are  full  of  blood/'  he  cries.  "  When  ye 
make  prayers,  I  will  not  hear/'  Therefore,  "Seek 
justice,  and  relieve  the  oppressed,  and  though  your  sins 
be  red  like  crimson  they  shall  be  white  as  snow."  And 
Isaiah  is  typical  of  all.  To  find  anything  like  the  indi- 
vidualism of  modern  religious  teaching  in  the  Jewish 
prophets,  you  must  go  to  the  utterances  of  the 


1O  THE    HEBREW    PROPHETS 

pessimists  in  the  days  of  the  captivity,  when  the  social 
unity  of  the  race  was  broken  into  fragments  and  the 
national  hope  almost  extinguished. 


3.— Industrialism  and  Social  Salvation. 

The  prophets  of  Israel,  like  the  prophet  of  Nazareth, 
reveal  in  their  personality  and  message  that  highest 
synthesis  of  the  individual  and  the  social  body.  They 
came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to 
give  themselves  for  the  people.  If  it  be  claimed  that 
surely  the  prophets  themselves  were  individually 
41  saved  "  men,  our  answer  is  that  their  salvation  did 
not  consist  in  the  development  of  certain  private 
virtues,  or  in  the  orthodox  advocacy  of  a  certain  theo- 
logy, new  or  old.  Their  salvation  as  individuals  con- 
sisted in  a  total  abandonment  of  every  private  or 
personal  interest,  that  they  might  plead  the  cause  of 
the  people,  and  especially  of  the  poor  and  oppressed, 
against  the  power  of  wrongdoers.  Thus  they 
incarnated  the  total  human  need  and  human  life.  Thus 
the  prophet  became  indeed  the  Son  of  Man — as  he 
styled  himself — the  Son  of  Humanity.  His  only 
interest  was  the  common,  universal,  social  interest  of 
the  whole  people.  The  individual  is  "  saved  "  when 
the  soul  is  filled  with  a  vast  social  ideal  and  thrilled 
with  a  social  purpose.  "  To  lose  your  own  sorrow  in 
the  vaster  sense  of  national  trouble,  as  Hosea  did,  that 
is  the  first  consciousness  of  a  duty  and  a  mission." — 
(Prof.  George  Adam  Smith). 

The  excess  of  individualism  in  religion,  which  dates 
largely  from  the  Reformation,  has  been  greatly 
accentuated  by  the  rank,  competitive  struggle  in  the 
daily  life  of  the  people.  But  if  the  God  of  the  prophets 
is  the  Divine  Reality  of  this  universe,  this  acute 
individualism  and  pietism  is  a  poor  loaf  of  the  redemp- 
tive purpose  in  mankind  ;  for  it  neither  saves  the  indi- 
vidual to  that  saviourship  of  humanity  which  is  his 


AND    THE    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  II 

call  and  his  privilege,  nor  does  it  save  the  whole  people 
from  the  ravages  of  the  social  and  industrial  dragons 
that  devour  them. 

4.— They  were  Social  Reformers. 

These  Hebrew  prophets  were  social  reformers  of  the 
most  radical  type,  as  the  most  casual  reading  of  their 
lives  and  words  will  reveal.  They  were  the  voices  of 
Social  Revolution  in  their  day,  according  to  its  need. 
Moses  conspired  against  the  tyranny  of  Pharaoh,  and 
organised  the  workers  into  a  vast  labour  union,  and 
marched  them  to  freedom.  Samuel  organised  a  new 
order  of  prophets  for  the  express  purpose  of  creating 
a  national  revival.  Elijah  attacked  the  king  because 
of  injustice  in  land  indosure.  To  Elijah  God  was  the 
refuge  of  the  oppressed  and  the  support  of  the  weak 
against  the  mighty.  The  influence  of  Elisha  was 
directly  political.  He  was  the  very  soul  of  the  struggle 
for  independence  during  the  Syrian  wars.  When  he 
died  they  called  him  "  the  chariot  of  Israel  and  the 
horsemen  thereof."  The  prophecies  of  Amos,  Hosea, 
and  Micah  are  almost  wholly  social  and  political, 
calling  for  economic  and  social  righteousness.  Joel 
calls  upon  the  ministers  of  God  to  weep  and  wail  over 
the  misery  of  the  people  in  their  economic  distress. 
"  All  trees  of  the  field  are  dried  up  ;  yea,  joy  is  abashed 
and  away  from  the  children  of  men."  He  calls  upon 
the  priests  to  put  on  mourning  and  beat  their  breasts, 
because  "  the  food  is  cut  off — the  garners  are  desolate— 
the  corn  is  withered — the  herds  huddle  together."  Let 
the  priests  cry,  "  Spare,  O  Jehovah,  Thy  people." 
Ezekiel  pronounced  woe  upon  the  shepherds  who  feed 
themselves  but  neglect  the  flock,  and  let  the  strong  over- 
ride the  weak.  Jeremiah  declares  that  he  has  been 
sent  to  pull  down  and  to  tear  at  unjust  and  unholy 
institutions,  and  to  build  anew  in  rightousness — a 
revolutionist,  indeed,  who  barely  escaped  with  his  life. 
The  first  chapter  of  Isaiah  is  the  bitterest  attack  in  all 
sacred  literature  upon  ceremonial  religion  that  forgets 


THE    HEBREW    PROPHETS 


justice  and  social  righteousness.  Victor  Hugo  puts  Is- 
aiah in  a  list  of  the  greatest  geniuses  in  history,  and 
says,  "  He  is  the  great  reproacher — he  fixes  a  date  for 
oppressors — he  stands  at  the  threshold  of  civilisation 
and  refuses  to  enter."  Even  Jonah,  the  last  of  the 
prophets,  calls  upon  the  whole  city  of  Nineveh  to 
repent ;  and  the  record  states  that  the  national 
repentance  began  with  the  people,  included  the  very 
beasts  of  the  field,  swells  like  a  tide  to  the  authorities, 
until  the  king  himself  casts  off  his  emblems  and  shares 
in  the  communal  fast.  Here,  again,  God  reveals  his 
interest  in  whole  mass  populations  of  the  weak  and 
ignorant.  "  Shall  I  not  care  for  Nineveh,  that  great 
city  in  which  there  are  more  than  twelve  times  ten 
thousand  human  beings,  who  know  not  their  right  hand 
from  their  left — besides  much  cattle/' 

When  the  trade  unionists  at  Hull  declared  their 
sympathy  with  the  Socialist  programme,  or  when  the 
Wesleyans  wheeled  a  petition  weighing  half-a-ton  into 
the  House  of  Commons,  we  have  exhibitions  of  mass 
movements  for  social  righteousness.  But  if  you  wish 
to  see  this  passion  for  social  justice,  of  which  the 
Hebrew  prophets  are  our  great  exemplars,  sweeping 
over  people  irrespective  of  their  creed,  colour,  or 
nationality,  inspiring  men  and  women  with  the  spirit  of 
devotion  to  a  great  social  ideal,  leaping  forward  to 
capture  political  power  in  order  to  establish  economic 
freedom  and  justice  in  social  institutions — if  you  wish 
to  see  this  as  never  before  exhibited  in  powrer  and  sanity 
of  programme,  you  must  behold  the  Socialist  movement 
of  the  world. 

We  have  now  seen  that  the  message  of  the  prophets 
arose  out  of  the  social  and  economic  conditions  of  the 
people.  We  have  also  seen  that  their  message  was  not 
delivered  to  individual  souls  in  terms  of  personal 
pietism,  but  to  the  whole  people  in  terms  of  social 
righteousness.  So  the  Social  Revolution  of  our  time, 
with  its  new  social  conscience,  and  its  economic  pro- 
gramme, arises  out  of  the  social  conditions  precipitated 


AND    THE    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  13 

by  the  age  of  machinery  and  private  capitalism  ;  and 
the  propaganda  of  the  Social  Revolution  is  directed  not 
to  individuals  concerning  their  personal  virtues  and 
vices,  but  to  every  man  in  the  nation,  as  a  social  unit, 
concerning  social  sin  and  economic  injustice,  and 
national  unrighteousness,  from  which  no  man  can 
individually  escape,  but  from  which  escape  can  be 
social  only. 

5. — The  Class-Struggle. 

We  carry  the  parallel  one  step  further.  While  not 
neglecting  other  elements  of  social  morality,  the 
prophets  of  Israel  emphatically  ranged  themselves  on 
the  side  of  the  poor,  and  against  their  oppressors. 
They  found  themselves  in  the  midst  of  a  Class  Struggle, 
and  in  the  name  of  the  God  of  Freedom  and  Justice 
they  took  the  part  of  the  toiling  and  oppressed  common 
people.  No  fact  stands  out  more  plainly  than  this 
throughout  the  whole  prophetic  period.  Indeed,  this  is. 
so  manifest  that  long  before  we  come  to  consider  the 
matter  specifically  it  becomes  manifest  in  the  general 
study  of  the  word  of  the  prophets.  They  were  the 
champions  of  the  poor.  They  ruthlessly  impeached  the 
rich,  powerful,  oppressors  and  grandees  in  Church  and 
State.  To  these  men  of  God  Jehovah  had  delivered 
these  Hebrew  slaves  out  of  the  hand  of  one  master, 
and  He  was  not  going  to  see  them  put  under  another. 
He  had  brought  them  out  of  Egypt  to  make  them  free 
and  to  establish  them  in  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and 
honey,  and  any  social  development  that  turned  that 
freedom  back,  or  took  away  that  milk  and  honey, 
Jehovah  would  destroy.  In  this  respect,  then,  the 
Social  Revolution  runs  in  close  parallel  with  Hebrew 
prophecy. 

IV. 

THREE  SUBSTITUTES  FOR  SOCIAL  JUSTICE. 

Let  us  now  see  the  attitude  of  the  prophets  concern- 
ing this  specific  evil  of  industrial  oppression  and  their 


14  THE    HEBREW    PROPHETS 

demand  for  social  justice.  To  the  prophets  social 
righteousness  could  not  be  realised  except  through 
righting  the  relations  of  men  in  their  daily  bread-getting. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  has  to  find 
application  in  the  regular,  abiding,  organised,  economic 
relations.  God  would  accept  nothing  else,  and  nothing 
less.  Justice  in  bread-getting  and  land-using  was  the 
first  necessary  constituent  of  anything  that  proposed 
to  be  the  will  of  God.  For  this  kind  of  plain,  matter- 
of-fact,  work-a-day  righteousness  there  could  be  no 
substitute. 

But  right  here  the  prophets  had  to  face  what 
prophets  of  social  righteousness  have  always  had  to 
meet,  viz.,  grand,  imposing  substitutes  and  counterfeits 
for  real  righteousness. 

The  religious  consciousness  is  fundatinental  in  man. 
If  that  consciousness  does  not  find  normal  expression 
in  human  brotherhood  and  right  social  and  economic 
relations,  then  it  will  become  prostituted  in  abnormal 
forms  of  expression.  These  forms  are  at  least  three  : — 
First,  correct  theology,  with  an  accompanying 
pharisaism  in  morals ;  second,  ritualism  and  cere- 
mony ;  and,  third,  religious  emotionalism.  These  three 
the  prophets  of  Israel  had  to  meet. 

Social  righteousness,  expressed  in  social  justice,  in 
the  freedom  and  security  of  the  life  of  the  people — that 
is  the  first  and  basic  form  of  real  religion  and  true 
morality.  If  any  man  does  not  want  social  justice  in 
the  use  of  land  and  machinery  for  the  bread-getting 
realities  of  the  common  life,  he  does  not  want  anything 
for  humanity.  Any  religion  that  dodges  this  and  prac- 
tices substitutes  is  vain.  These  three  substitutes  for 
real  social  righteousness  have  to  be  punctured  in  order 
to  fully  reveal  the  will  of  God  as  simply  love  and 
freedom,  and  love  and  freedom  only,  in  actual 
expression. 

1.— The  Prophets  and  Orthodoxy. 

Even  a  brief  treatment  of  those  three  substitutes 


AND    THE    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  15 

is  beyond  our  present  scope.  Jesus  said,  "  Why  call 
ye  me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I  say." 
For,  "  By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  My 
disciples  that  ye  love  one  another  as  I  have  loved  you." 
No  theology,  new  or  old,  however  orthodox  or  progres- 
sive, can  be  substituted  for  just  and  brotherly  relations 
in  the  fundamental  and  commonplace  realities.  The 
way  of  the  Greek  was  that  of  correct  thinking  and  right 
dogma  ;  the  way  of  the  Christ-spirit  in  all  ages,  includ- 
ing that  of  the  Hebrew  prophets,  is  the  Good-will,  the 
intellect  to  be  made  the  servant  of  that  will.  The 
prophets,  anticipating  Christ,  literally  made  sport  of 
the  religious  teachers  of  their  day,  for  substituting 

accepted  doctrines  for  righteousness. 

2.— The  Prophets  and  Ritual. 

But  the  supreme  attack  of  the  prophets  was  upon  the 
religion  of  ritualism  and  ceremonialism.  As  long  as  the 
people  thought  that  God  could  be  pleased  with  prayers, 
and  songs,  and  ceremonies,  and  the  repetition  of 
formulae,  on  stated  high  and  holy  days,  and  sacred  ser- 
vices conducted  by  robed  and  dignified  religious 
officials — as  long  as  the  religious  consciousness  spent 
itself  in  this  way,  the  prophets  could  make  no  headway 
in  getting  the  people  really  right  with  God,  nor  could 
they  free  the  people  from  the  injustice  that  was  rampant 
and  unquestioned  in  the  midst  of  all  this  palaver. 

Amos,  the  first  and  one  of  the  very  greatest  of  the 
prophets,  makes  ceremonial  religion  the  "  chief  target 
of  his  shafts."  He  saw  the  people,  under  the  guidance 
of  their  religious  leaders,  pouring  the  energy  of  the 
religious  consciousness  into  these  pagan  forms  and 
ceremonies,  and  he  saw  that  this  actually  stifled  the 
real  moral  and  spiritual  life.  Their  altars  and  ritual 
and  forms  and  ceremonies  actually  hid  the  living  God. 
To  go  to  the  temple  or  church,  to  duly  offer  the  sacrifice, 
to  chant  the  sacred  songs,  to  repeat  the  prayers — all 
of  this  became  a  mere  routine  which,  offered  as  a  sub- 


l6  THE   HEBREW    PROPHETS 

stitute  for  real  righteousness  in  the  common  life,  dulled 
the  social  conscience,  and  made  social  insight  impossible. 

3.— The  Ridicule  of  Amos. 


To  Amos  judgment  must  therefore  begin  at  the 
House  of  God.  Not  that  Amos  wished  to  attack  this 
ceremonial  and  ritualism  as  a  thing  in  itself.  He 
attacked  it  because  the  people  made  it  take  the  place 
of  Social  Justice,  and  gave  moral  sanction  to  the 
existing  social  conditions.  We  of  the  Social  Revolution 
think  we  go  far  when  we  declare  that  modern  religion  is 
bulwarking  the  injustice  of  Capitalism.  Amos  went 

further.  He  looked  upon  these  religious  places  as  the 
very  fountain  of  the  social  corruption,  for  the  greater 
priests  were  admitted  to  councils  of  State,  and  became 
associated  in  feelings  and  interests  with  the  corrupt  and 
tyrannical  aristocracy,  "  and  were  as  notorious  as  the 
lords  temporal  for  neglect  of  law  and  justice/*  Amos 
utterly  repudiated  the  entire  cult  and  all  its  doings.  He 
scorned  it.  He  ridiculed  it.  He  caricatured  it.  In  one 
place,  after  an  outburst  upon  it,  in  which  he  calls  the 
very  worship  blasphemy  and  transgression,  he  actually 
goes  on  to  say,  in  the  original  Hebrew,  "  The  house  of 
God  shall  go  to  the  devil !  "  For  they  had  made  it  no 
longer  the  house  of  God. 

God  speaks  through  Amos  with  the  utmost  abhor- 
rence of  the  whole  ceremonial  activity,  and  in  the  same 
breath  calls  for  the  real  righteousness  of  justice  in  the 
national  life.  "  I  hate,  I  loathe  your  festivals,"  said 
the  Lord.  "  Your  thank-offering  of  fatted  calves,  I 
will  not  look  at  them."  To  their  religious  music,  the 
finest  the  art  of  the  day  could  produce,  God  will  stop 
his  ear.  "  Let  cease  from  me  the  noise  of  thy  song  !  To 
the  playing  of  thy  viols  I  will  not  listen."  "  But  let 
justice  roll  on  like  water,  and  righteousness  like  an 
unfailing  stream." 

4.— The  Denunciation  of  isaiah. 

Isaiah  adds  his  terrible  denunciation  of  this  ritualistic 


AND    THE    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  1 7 

substitute  for  social  justice.  Sabbaths  and  holy  days, 
prayers  and  songs,  tithes  and  offerings — all  these 
offered  to  the  God  of  this  great  universe  as  if  he  were  a 
pagan  deity — God  utterly  despises.  No  commentary 
can  add  vigour  to  the  vehement  scorn  of  the  old  prophet 
to  the  whole  of  it.  "  To  what  purpose  is  the  multitude 
of  your  sacrifices  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord.  I  am  full  of 
the  burnt  offerings  of  rams  and  the  fat  of  fed  beasts. 
„  .  .  Bring  no  more  vain  oblations  ;  incense  is  an 
abomination  unto  me  .  .  .  your  prayer  meeting, 
even,  is  iniquity  ....  Yea,  when  ye  make 
many  prayers  I  will  not  hear  ;  your  hands  are  full  Of 
blood  .  .  .  seek  justice  .  .  .  relieve  the 
oppressed  .  .  .  though  your  sins  be  red  like 
crimson  they  shall  be  as  wool/' 

5. — Hosea  and  Malachi. 

When  Hosea,  like  John  in  the  Apocalypse,  beholds 
the  new  earth  wherein  justice  and  righteousness  shall 
be  established,  he  sees  no  temple  therein,  but  the  life 

and    health    and    freedom    of   the   people.    Malachi 

declared  that  the  priests  were  for  light  to  the  masses, 
as  shepherds  unto  the  sheep.  "  The  revelation  of 
truth  "  was  to  be  on  the  lips  of  the  priest.  But  they 
had  failed.  They  had  neglected  the  sheep.  They 
stood  by  and  let  the  pastures  be  taken  away  from  the 
sheep.  The  light  that  was  in  them  had  become  dark- 
ness. "  And  I,  Jehovah,  on  my  part  have  made  you 
contemptible  to  all  people,  and  abased,  in  proportion  as 
ye  kept  not  My  ways  and  had  respect  to  persons  in 
teaching  the  law/' 

Thus  we  see  the  bitterness  of  the  attack  on  formal 
religion  made  by  the  prophets  was  made  because  the 
priests  and  people  poured  the  moral  and  religious 
energy  into  religiousness  instead  of  into  righteousness. 
Such  a  state  of  affairs  had  to  be  interrupted.  It  is  a 
significant  fact  that  the  attack  upon  modern 
religion  which  arises  in  the  Social  Revolution  through- 
uot  the  world  at  the  present  time  is  made  on  similar 


I 8  THE    HEBREW    PROPHETS 

grounds.  The  Socialists  have  no  reason  to  meddle 
with  any  form  of  religion  that  people  may  choose  to 
indulge  in.  But  when  that  religion  exalts  itself  as  the 
will  of  God  over  the  souls  of  the  people,  and  turns  the 
moral  energies  of  the  people  away  from  the  simple 
righteousness  of  brotherhood  and  social  justice,  and 

actually  sustains  and  sanctifies  injustice,  then  it  is  open 

to  attack  as  a  menace  to  the  freedom  of  the  people  on 
the  ground  of  being  a  moral  sanction  to  the  injustice  of 
Capitalism. 

6.— The  Prophets  and  Religious  Emotionalism. 

The  third  substitute  for  genuine,  everyday  righteous- 
ness is  religious  emotionalism.  This  found  expression 
in  ancient  Israel  in  the  teachings  of  what  the  prophets 
call  the  "  false  prophets/'  These  were  not  priests 
administering  ritual,  but  teachers  of  theology  and 
morality.  Their  religious  activity  had  degenerated 
into  a  mere  profession  or  trade.  Amos  felt  compelled 
to  declare  he  did  not  belong  to  that  profession.  They 
were  of  two  classes — the  one  a  sort  of  emotional 
evangelists  and  the  other  a  more  sedate  preaching 
class.  Professor  George  Adam  Smith  thus  describes 
them  : — "  They  went  about  in  bands.  They  were 
rilled  with  an  infectious  enthusiasm,  by  which  they 
excited  each  other  and  all  sensitive  persons  whom  they 
touched.  They  stirred  up  this  enthusiasm  by  singing, 
playing  upon  instruments,  and  dancing  ;  its  results 
were  frenzy,  the  tearing  of  clothes,  and  prostration. 
The  same  phenomena  have  appeared  in  every  religion 
— in  paganism  often,  and  several  times  within  Chris- 
tianity. They  may  be  watched  to-day  among  the 
dervishes  of  Islam,  who,  by  singing,  by  swaying  of 
their  bodies,  and  repeating  the  Divine  name,  and 
dwelling  on  the  love  and  ineffable  power  of  God,  work 
themselves  into  an  excitement  which  ends  in  prostra- 
tion and  often  in  insensibility/'  Even  Saul  got  into 
one  of  these  groups  and  "  got  under  the  power/'  stripped 
off  his  clothes,  and  lay  prostrate  a  day  and  a  night. 


AND    THE   SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  I(^ 

The  more  sedate  and  respectable  of  these  false 
prophets  were  simply  preachers  of  a  religion  without 
vision,  that  was  fully  at  peace  with  existing  evils. 

"  They  were  not  always  conscious  liars.  They  were 
the  mouthpiece  of  the  average  popular  opinion. "  They 
corresponded  to  those  modern  preachers  who  act  as 
eulogists  of  existing  conditions,  not  because  they 
desire  to  deceive  the  people,  but  because  they  are  really 
charmed  with  things  as  they  are,  and  have  never  had  a 
vision  from  God  to  shake  their  illusion.  "- 
(Rauschenbusch) . 

So  long,  then,  as  the  people  believed  that  it  was 
pleasing  to  God  to  develop  a  personal,  subjective 
ecstasy,  by  singing  and  praying  and  contemplation, 
and  so  long  as  they  thought  to  please  God  by  accepting 
and  living  the  poor,  empty  morality  taught  by  the  false 
prophets,  just  so  long  the  real  righteousness  for  which 
the  prophets  stood  could  make  no  headway.  Hence  the 
fearful  condemnation  visited  upon  these  false  teachers 
in  the  prophetic  literature.  They  were  blind  leaders 
of  the  blind.  We  find  a  similar  castigation  of  such  men 
in  the  teaching  of  Jesus — not  that  He  condemned  them 
for  what  they  did,  but  that  they  made  their  pharasaic 
morality  a  substitute  for  genuine  social  justice  and 
righteousness.  They  fasted,  prayed,  and  tithed  mint 
and  anise  and  cummin,  but  forgot  infinitely  more 
important  things — justice  and  mercy,  and  the  faith  in 
which  these  naturally  and  inevitably  grow. 

A  passage  from  Professor  George  Adam  Smith  will 
reveal  at  once  the  secret  of  their  false  prophecy,  and 
show  how  it  affected  the  relation  of  the  rich  and  the 
poor.  "  Micah's  tyrants,  too,  had  religion  to  support 
them.  A  number  of  hireling  prophets,  whom  we  have 
seen  both  Amos  and  Hosea  attack,  gave  their  blessing 
to  the  social  system  which  crushed  the  poor,  for  they 
shared  its  profits."  (Mark  the  modern  parallel  which 
the  Social  Revolution  discloses).  "  Those  false  pro- 
phets lived  upon  the  alms  of  the  rich,  and  flattered 
according  as  they  were  fed."  At  Ahab's  table  sat 


•2O  THE    HEBREW    PROPHETS 

four  hundred  of  these  fellows — "  subserviency  to  the 
powerful  made  them  liars/'  "  To  them  Micah  devotes 
the  second  oracle  of  chapter  three.  And  we  find 
confirmed  by  his  words  the  principle  we  laid  down 
before,  that  in  that  age  the  one  great  difference  between 
the  false  and  the  true  prophet  was  what  it  has  been  in 
every  age  since  then  till  now — an  ethical  difference,  and 
not  a  difference  of  dogma,  or  tradition,  or  ecclesiastical 
note.  The  false  prophet  spoke,  consciously  or  uncon- 
sciously, for  himself  and  his  living.  He  sided  with  the 
rich  ;  he  shut  his  eyes  to  the  social  condition  of  the 
people ;  he  did  not  attack  the  sins  of  the  day.  This 
made  him  false,  robbed  him  of  insight  and  the  power 
of  prediction.  But  the  true  prophet  exposed  the  sins 
of  the  people.  Ethical  insight  and  courage,  burning 
indignation  of  wrong,  clear  vision  of  the  facts  of  the 
day — this  was  what  Jehovah's  spirit  put  into  him,  this 
was  what  Micah  felt  to  be  inspiration "  .  .  . 

7.— The  Prophet  of  the  Poor. 

Micah  has  been  called  the  "  Prophet  of  the  Poor." 
A  simple,  natural  reading  of  his  book  will  reveal  the 
message  of  the  prophet,  and  disclose  in  one  short  lesson 
all  I  have  said,  and  show  how  the  message  of  these 
great  Hebrew  reformers  corresponds  in  spirit  and 
direction  with  the  present  Social  Revolution.  Micah 
pleads  the  cause  of  the  people  against  the  land-hungry 
and  the  powerful  commercial  classes.  The  terrible 
indignation  of  the  seer  is  aroused  at  the  thought  that 
his  human  brothers  should  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  greed 
of  the  economically  strong.  Then  he  turns  upon  the 
regular  orthodox  ministry  of  the  day,  who  had  flattered 
these  rich  and  powerful  into  their  sense  of  self-righteous- 
ness and  justified  their  social  injustice.  His  moral  and 
spiritual  message  he  relates  closely  and  almost  extremely 
with  social  conditions.  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  daily 
saw  the  bitter  lives  of  the  poor  all  about  him,  and  the 
luxury  and  pride  of  those  who  had  gathered  the  surplus 
from  the  labour  of  the  people.  His  heart  broke.  He 


AND    THE    SOCIAL    REVOLUTION.  21 

burst  forth  with  the  Word  of  God.  To  Micah  is 
attributed  the  loftiest  passage  of  moral  and  spiritual 
vision  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  this  sublime  passage 
is  the  climax  of  his  message  : — 

"  Wherewithal  shall  I  come  before  the  Lord,  and  bow 
myself  before  the  high  God  ? 

"  Shall  I  come  before  him  with  burnt  offerings,  with 
calves  of  a  year  old  ? 

"  Will  the  Lord  be  pleased  with  thousands  of  rams 
or  with  ten  thousands  of  rivers  of  oil  ? 

"  Shall  I  give  even  my  first-born  for  my  transgression 
— the  fruit  of  my  body  for  the  sin  of  my  soul  ?  " 

And  the  implied  answer  is  No !  a  thousand  times 
No  !  Of  what  good  is  all  this  ceremonial,  or  sacrifice, 
or  palaver,  or  bowings  to  God  or  man  ? 

What  then  ? 

"  He  hath  showed  thee,  0  man,  what  is  good ;  and 
what  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  Justice 
and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly,  unpretentious- 
ly, unostentatiously  with  thy  God." 

And  what  doth  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth  require 
of  us  but  the  same  ! 


IV. 
FURTHER  CONSIDERATIONS. 

As  I  have  re- written  this  matter  on  the  prophets  to 
reduce  it  to  its  narrow  limits,  I  felt  that  I  had,  perhaps, 
over-stated  the  national,  social,  and  economic  signifi- 
cance of  the  work  of  these  men.  But  when  I  re-read 
their  lives  and  words  from  the  Old  Testament  I  am 
more  than  ever  convinced  that  this  phase  of  the 
influence  of  Hebrew  Prophetism  has  never  been  suffi- 
ciently offered  to  the  spiritual  consciousness  of  Christen- 
dom. 

I  am  ready  to  confess  that  these  prophets  were 
mystics,  healers,  miracle  workers,  illuminati.  They 
were  no  doubt  men  of  silence  and  solitude  and  medita- 


22  THE    HEBREW    PROPHETS 

tion,  coming  forth  into  action  in  civilisation.  But 
when  they  came  forth  they  did  not  come  imposing 
ceremonies  or  rituals  upon  the  people,  nor  speaking 
about  affairs  religious,  as  we  understand  that  word. 
They  burst  into  the  raw,  real  life  of  the  people,  and  dis- 
closed its  lies  and  ignorance  in  the  light  of  Truth  and 
Justice. 

All  the  modern  critics  of  the  prophetic  literature 
make  this  Social  Radicalism  stand  out  supreme.  There 
are  not  two  sides  to  the  question.  Whatever  else  these 
mighty  men  were,  whatever  other  message  can  be 
gathered  from  their  writings,  this  social  revolutionism 
in  the  name  of  Jehovah  is  pre-eminent.  If  any  pro- 
minent preacher  in  London  or  New  York  would  fill  his 
sermons  or  books  with  such  vehement  social  teachings, 
so  plain,  straight,  undiluted,  and  frequent,  he  would 
become  a  nuisance  to  our  respectable  church-going 
classes.  No  petty  moralising  or  eloquent  treatment 
of  other  themes  sandwiched  in  would  atone  for  such 
utterances  social  and  economic. 

1.— Renan's  Conclusions. 

In  the  prefatory  word  I  have  counselled  my  readers 
to  pursue  this  subject  further  by  the  study  of  the 
books  to  which  I  have  referred.  In  previous  references 
I  have  not  mentioned  the  critical  work  of  Renan  on  the 
Prophets  of  Israel.  And  now  I  cannot  do  better  than 
offer  some  conclusions  from  his  work,  all  of  which  sus- 
tain the  main  points  of  argument  which  I  have 
presented  concerning  these  great  Hebrew  teachers. 
The  testimony  is  complete  that  they  were  social 
teachers,  emancipators  of  the  people,  scorning  mere 
religionism,  crying  aloud  for  social  righteousness, 
defying  kings  and  priests,  and  voicing  the  cry  of  the 
voiceless. 

Renan  declares  that  the  distinctive  character  of 
Israel  as  a  people  commences  with  the  prophets. 
It  is  thru  prophecy  that  Israel  occupies  a  place  in  the 


AND    THE   SOCIAL   REVOLUTION.  23 

history  of  the  world.  This  extraordinary  development 
of  prophetism  is,  as  it  were,  the  main  trunk  of  the 
religious  history  of  the  world.  The  aim  of  Jehovah,  in 
taking  pains  that  Israel  should  be  educated  as  a  holy 
people,  was  the  triumph  of  Social  Justice.  It  is, 
above  all,  by  the  conception  of  Providence  and  of 
Social  Justice  in  the  earth  that  the  Hebrew  develop- 
ment differs  from  all  peoples.  The  Hebrew  prophet 
never  appeals  to  rewards  and  punishments  beyond  the 
grave.  He  hungers  for  Justice,  and  for  speedy  Justice. 
An  unjust  world  is  in  the  eyes  of  God  a  monstrosity. 
The  Day  of  the  Lord  is  a  day  of  radical  revolution  :  the 
triumph  of  the  weak,  the  confusion  of  the  mighty.  Zion 
shall  be  the  capital  of  a  regenerated  world  in  which 
Justice  Shall  reign.  A  history  of  the  origin  of  Chris- 
tianity, if  begun  at  the  time  when  the  primitive 
Christian  ideas  were  formed  would  have  to  start  from 
Isaiah. 

"  The  Hebrew  Prophets,"  writes  Renan,  "  are  true 
protestants,  reformers,  and  puritans.  Not  without 
reason  were  their  writings  the  habitual  literary  food 
of  the  great  agitatiors  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
Inability  to  divide  politics  and  religion  is  peculiar  to 
both."  The  priesthoods  both  at  Jerusalem  and 
Bethel  were  frequently  the  means  of  retarding  and 
thwarting  the  essential  mission  of  Israel.  But  these 
prophets  were  not  connected  with  services  or  sacrifices. 
It  was  far  from  the  temples,  in  valleys  or  caverns 
11  that  the  most  true,  most  just,  and  most  democratic 
God  of  that  period  inspired  the  profound  sentiments, 
swelling  hearts,  and  violent  indignation  which  have 
counted  among  the  vital  pulsations  of  the  heart  of 
humanity."  This  influence  of  Israel,  unequalled  in 
human  history,  was  not  in  the  hands  of  wise  kings  or 
sensible  politicians,  "  but  in  the  heart  of  visionaries, 
utopists,  and  inspired  democrats  who  commanded 
revolutions  and  made  and  unmade  dynasties.  These 
stern  seers  of  Israel  were  unintentionally  emancipators, 
for  they  contended  against  the  worst  of  tyrannies, 


24  THE   HEBREW   PROPHETS 

the  connivance  of  ignorant  crowds  with  a  degraded 
priesthood." 

2.— Of  Elijah,  Amos,  Isaiah. 

Renan  says  that  the  biography  of  Elijah  remains 
like  the  powerful  leaven  of  future  revolutions.  Tracked 
by  kings  like  a  wild  beast,  he  defies  them  with  a 
supreme  impertinence.  Amos  was  a  malcontent. 
The  bulk  of  the  writings,  Assyrian,  Egyptian,  and 
Chinese,  is  untruthful,  and  in  the  presence  of  kings, 
adulatory.  Not  so  Amos.  The  Book  of  Amos  is  the 
first  example  of  irreconcileable  Journalism  ever  written. 
The  prophets  were  open-air  Journalists  reciting  their 
own  production,  adding  to  it,  and  often  interpreting  it 
by  some  symbolical  act.  At  a  time  when  the  idea  of 
right  scarcely  existed,,  these  extraordinary  men 

assumed  the  position  of  defenders  of  the  weak  and  the 

oppressed.  Isaiah  is  the  greatest  of  a  race  of  giants, 
the  classical  genius  of  Judaism,  the  tribune  of  Justice, 
the  inspired  soul,  the  acting  conscience  of  Israel.  He 
was  not  one  of  the  sacerdotal  caste.  Hosea  writes 
with  the  fierce  vigour  of  a  man  of  the  people. 
He  even  employs  their  slang,  terse,  abrupt,  penetrating. 
According  to  Hosea,  the  priests  have  deserted  the  true 
worship  of  Jehovah,  seeking  only  to  enrich  themselves 
with  offerings.  They  live  upon  the  guilt  and  sin  of  the 
people,  wrhich  they  artificially  create.  Bethel,  that  is 
the  House  of  God,  shall  go  to  Beth-aven,  that  is  the 
devil.  Thorns  and  thistles  shall  come  up  on  the  altars 
and  holy  places.  Sacrifices  are  useless  and  an  offence. 
The  Lord  demands  righteousness  and  Justice,  and  that 
speedily.  Such  is  the  great  and  majestic  message  of 
the  Hebrew  Prophets. 


THE    BIBLE    ARGUMENT    FOR    SOCIALISM 


INTRODUCTION. 

There  are  three  great  realities  of  our  time  which 
constitute  the  points  of  thought  in  the  argument  which 
I  wish  to  place  before  you — the  Capitalist  System  of 
Industry,  the  Socialist  Movement,  and  the  Christian 
Church. 

The  Capitalist  System  is  the  present  form  or  mode 
of  relationship  which  we  bear  to  one  another  in  the 
struggle  for  a  living,  and  to  the  land,  the  machinery, 
and  the  products  of  labor  by  which  we  secure  a  living. 
Capitalism  is  the  most  complex,  colossal,  and  world- 
wide system  of  society  that  has  ever  existed  in  the 
history  of  mankind. 

The  Socialist  Movement  is  a  political  and  moral 
revolt  of  the  working  classes  against  the  intolerable 
injustices  of  Capitalism,  and  for  the  establishment  of 
the  Co-operative  Commonwealth  in  the  place  of  this 
competitive,  monopolistic  system.  Socialism  is  the 
most  stupendous  organized  movement  of  the  workers 
of  the  world  for  industrial  emancipation,  through 
political  action  that  history  records. 

The  Church  is  the  official  institution  for  the  in- 
struction of  the  people  in  religious  life  and  moral 
conduct.  Its  sphere  of  influence  as  an  institution  is 
practically  co-extensive  with  Capitalism.  The  trader 
and  the  missionary  sail  in  the  same  ship.  And  the 
Socialist  finds  the  church  in  possession  of  the  field 
wherever  he  goes. 

For  over  fifteen  years  I  have  been  active  in  spread- 
ing the  truths  of  Socialism  throughout  England,  Canada, 
and  the  United  States.  I  was  led  into  the  Socialist 
movement  through  one  of  the  deepest  spiritual  ex- 
periences of  my  life.  To  me  Socialism  is  an  inevit- 
able logic  of  the  kingdom  of  righteousness  on  the 


2  THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM. 

earth.  For  all  these  years  I  have  grieved  over  the 
hostility  and  indifference  of  the  Christian  pastors  and 
people  to  this  great  cause  of  humanity.  The  greatest 
moral  hindrance  to  the  Socialist  movement  is  the 
negative  quality  of  social  conscience  among  church 
people.  The  excessive  individualism  of  their  moral 
instruction  leaves  them  indifferent  to  the  social  prob- 
lem. As  a  rule  a  church  member  has  no  acutely 
awakened  conscience  concerning  the  wrongs  and  in- 
justices of  Capitalism.  He  lacks  social  vision.  He 
has  never  studied  human  sorrow  or  suffering  or  sin 
in  the  light  of  the  economic  conditions  in  which  men 
live.  The  average  church  member  has  no  moral  en- 
thusiasm for  that  Social  Justice  and  Economic  Free- 
dom for  the  people  which  Socialism  proposes.  I  be- 
lieve that  this  condition  of  the  church  is  hostile  to 
the  spirit  of  Christ,  and  a  menace  to  the  Kingdom 
of  God  on  the  earth.  It  is  for  the  purpose  of  turn- 
ing the  moral  and  spiritual  energy  of  the  Christians 
from  their  ignoble  support  of  Capitalism,  and  to 
consecrated  devotion  to  the  Socialist  movement  that 
this  pamphlet  is  written. 

1 — The  Preachers  and  the  Bible. 


You,  the  preachers  of  the  Will  of  God,  are  the 
active,  aggressive  agents  in  expounding  the  Bible  to 
the  mind  and  conscience  of  the  people.  You  number 
hundreds  of  thousands.  You  occupy  a  place  of  undue 
importance  and  influence  among  men.  You  are  col- 
lecting over  five  hundred  dollars  every  minute  from 
the  people  for  the  professed  purpose  of  teaching  their 
consciences  and  training  them  in  the  Will  of  God — 
the  Bible  being  your  text  book. 

You  are  the  educators  of  the  people  as  to  what  is 
right  and  what  is  wrong.  Not  only  so,  but  your 
moral  appeal  to  the  conscience  and  the  will  is  en- 
forced by  your  religious  teaching: — religious  teach- 
ing that  claims  to  determine  the  eternal  destiny  of 


THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM.  3 

human  souls.  You  claim  to  be  called  by  God  himself 
to  teach  the  truth  and  duty  to  men:  and  then  you 
claim  that  the  eternal  and  unending  condition  of  souls 
hangs  upon  their  acceptance  or  rejection,  their  obed- 
ience or  disobedience  to  your  teaching.  This  is  the 
secret  of  your  power  over  men — your  professed  re- 
lation to  their  eternal  destiny. 

Now  this  is  a  terrible  assumption,  and  if  it  were 
not  so  common  it  would  appear  to  be  a  colossal  and 
unguaranteed  assumption  quite  beyond  our  contempla- 
tion— that  any  human  being  whatsoever  should  ever 
assume  such  power  in  relation  to  any  other.  But 
since  this  assumption  is  acceded  to  by  millions  of 
people  you  become,  in  a  truly  awful  sense,  the  con- 
trollers and  disposers  and  keepers  of  the  conscience 
of  your  believing  and  adherent  multitudes. 

For  twenty  centuries  and  longer  the  simple  multi- 
tudes, trusting  to  your  assumed  authority  have  in  a 
serious  measure,  obeyed  or  feared  you  on  pain  of 
eternal  torment.  What  you  condemn  is  forbidden. 
What  you  condone  is  accepted.  They  are  pleased  to 
feel  at  ease  in  their  consciences  about  any  institution 
or  social  condition  concerning  which  you  are  silent. 
For  are  you  not  the  interpreters  of  God?  Who  shall 
gainsay  your  verdict?  Whoever  may  take  sacraments 
at  your  hands,  he  is  at  peace  with  God.  And  what- 
ever cause  or  movement  professing  to  be  good  does 
not  receive  your  blessing  and  support — that  cause  or 
movement  is  a  social  or  moral  heresy  worthy  of  neglect 
or  scorn  or  even  persecution  by  the  faithful. 

For  a  score  of  times  in  twenty  centuries,  you  have 
defended  or  left  unaccused  that  which  the  awakening 
conscience  and  quickened  intelligence  of  the  people 
has  finally  reprobated  and  utterly  eschewed.  For  a 
score  of  times  you  have  placed  the  condemnation  of 
your  assumed  moral  authority  upon  movements  of 
the  people  that  finally  have  proved  to  be  the  very 
sacredest  efforts  of  the  human  race. 


4  THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM. 

I  have  just  read  "Studies  in  Christianity/7  by  Prot. 
Borden  P.  Bowne,  of  Boston,  one  of  the  profoundest 
thinkers  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  In  this 
book,  published  in  1909,  Prof.  Bowne  makes  the  fol- 
lowing confession:  'The  authority  of  God  and  con- 
science has  been  invoked  for  numberless  crudities, 
imbecilities,  and  iniquities,  and  has  been  made  the 
mainstay  of  political  and  ecclesiastical  oppression.  .  . 
the  conventional  social  conscience  has  often  been  the 

bulwark  of  blind  conservatism  and  oppression 

One  acquainted  with  history  can  truthfully  address 
the  Church,  considered  as  an  ecclesiastical  organiza- 
tion and  say:  Which  of  the  prophets  has  not  the 
Church  persecuted?  What  new  truth  is  there  that 
the  Church  has  not  opposed?  What  mental  or  moral 
or  social  or  political  progress  is  there  that  the  Church 
has  not  protested  against;  and  what  tyranny  or  op^ 
pression  is  there  but  the  Church  has  not  espoused  and 
supported?  .  .  .  whether  in  government  or  in  morals, 
or  in  social  forms,  and  religious  thinking,  the  most 
bitter  and  determined  enemy  of  progress  has  been  the 
ecclesiastical  organization.  About  this  there  can  be 
no  question  ....  If  the  Church  could  have  had  its 
way,  modern  civilization  would  never  have  developed, 
and  humanity  would  have  been  ruined.  We  should 
have  been  living  in  filth  and  squalor  and  superstition, 
and  intellectual  abjectness  of  every  kind.  .  .  .  Only 
the  instinctive  and  irresistible  impulse  of  human  nature, 
whereby  it  has  vindicated  its  own  rights  has  saved 
humanity  from  destruction  by  religion/' 

And  now  we  are  again  at  a  great  crisis  in  human 
history — a  crisis  coming  to  concrete  form  in  the  eco- 
nomic, political,  and  moral  issue  between  Capitalism 
and  Socialism.  What  shall  be  the  attitude  of  the 
interpreters  of  the  Will  of  God  in  this  titanic  strug- 
gle? By  open  defense  of  Capitalism  or  by  silence 
concerning  this  unjust  system,  are  you  going  to  give 
your  people  a  lead  against  the  Socialist  movement? 
Or  are  you  going  to  voice  the  great  social  truths  of 


THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM.  5 

Scripture,  and  inspire  the  moral  and  spiritual  powers 
of  the  people  to  a  peaceful  solution  of  this  Supreme 
Issue  of  the  Times?  It  is  in  this  connection  that  I 
wish  to  present  to  you  The  Bible  Argument  for 
Socialism. 

2. — Capitalism  and  Socialism  Defined. 

Before  proceeding  with  the  argument  in  detail,  let 
us  briefly  define  Capitalism  and  Socialism. 

Men  must  live.  In  order  to  live  they  must  have 
the  products  of  labor.  These  cannot  be  secured  with- 
out the  labor  of  the  worker.  He  cannot  work  with- 
out access  to  land  or  machinery  or  both.  Land,  ma- 
chinery, labor,  products,  and  the  laborer  himself — 
these  are  the  series  involved  in  Bread-Getting. 

Now  under  Capitalism,  the  land,  the  machinery,  and 
the  products  of  human  labor  are  all  open  to  the  private 
ownership  and  private  administration  of  private  in- 
dividuals or  corporations  for  their  private  profit. 
Hence  we  have  a  universal  commercial  gamble  for 
railroads,  lands,  coal,  iron,  steel,  wool,  cotton,  &c. 
The  inevitable  outcome  of  this  vast  game  is  the  de- 
velopment of  trusts  and  combinations  of  the  most 
astounding  magnitude.  The  social  results  are  seen  in 
overwork,  and  unemployment,  pauperism,  crime,  pros- 
titution and  poverty.  We  behold  an  intense  struggle 
for  bare  existence  on  the  part  of  millions  of  our 
people  and  a  few  millionaires  with  their  almost  in- 
calculable wealth  in  control  of  the  means  of  life  of  the 
many.  The  upshot  of  this  gamble  and  monopoly  of 
industry  is  a  veritable  trading  in  the  very  bodies  and 
souls  of  human  beings. 

The  program  of  Socialism  is  that  of  Social  Owner- 
ship and  democratic  management  of  the  basic  industry 
of  the  cities,  states  and  nation. 

What  all  the  people  socially  need  the  people  should 
socially  own. 

What  the  individual  needs  the  state  should  guaran- 
tee him  the  inalienable  opportunity  to  earn. 


6  THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM. 

What  he  earns  the  state  should  secure  to  him  by 
preventing  that  exploitation  of  trusts  and  monopolies 
which  everywhere  prevails  today. 

The  postoffice  system,  the  public  schools,  the  fire 
department,  illustrate  the  Socialist  principle.  They 
belong  to  the  people.  They  are  not  conducted  by 
private  capitalists  or  private  corporations  for  private 
profit.  We  conduct  them  for  the  use  and  profit  of  all. 

This  same  principle  should  apply  at  least  to  rail- 
roads, express  companies,  street  railways,  telegraphs, 
telephones,  gas,  water,  electric  and  power  supply. 

Then  the  necessary  industrial  establishments,  auxil- 
iary to  all  these  systems  should  belong  to  the  people. 

Following  these  all  the  large  scale  productive  equip- 
ment of  the  necessaries  of  life  should  be  socially 
owned.  None  of  these  things  should  be  left  to  mon- 
opoly or  market  manipulation  by  private  individuals. 

The  state  should  make  laws  permitting  every  town- 
ship, county,  or  city  to  adopt  the  policy  of  public 
ownership  and  democratic  management  of  any  form 
of  local  industry  that  the  people  might  elect — laun- 
dries, bakeries,  shoe  shops,  clothing  establishments, 
food  depots,  coal  and  wood  yards  &c. 

Taxation  of  the  unearned  increment  of  land  values 
and  of  unearned  incomes  will  destroy  land  monopoly 
and  thus  keep  the  way  open  for  homes,  and  farms, 
and  co-operative  farm  colonies  in  the  rural  districts, 
and  thus  make  for  that  isolation,  and  real  freedom  of 
the  individual  and  of  family  life  which  Socialism  seeks. 

For  a  long  time  to  come  large  fields  of  industry 
may  be  still  left  to  private  individuals.  But  the  huge 
monopolies  of  transportation,  communication  and  ex- 
change and  the  giant  trusts. in  the  necessities  and  com- 
forts of  life,  must  be  transformed  into  socially  owne4 
utilities  and  run  for  public  use  and  not  for  private 
profit. 

Such  is  the  program  of  Socialism.  In  one  sentence 
the  object  of  Socialism  is  to  establish  Social  Justice  in 
the  use  of  the  basic  means  by  which  men  live. 


THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM.  7 

We  propose  to  do  this  by  due  legislation.  To  carry 
such  legislation  we  seek  to  mass  the  workers  and  their 
sympathizers  into  a  political  party  of  their  own 

against  all  political  parties  or  factions  of  the  Capital- 
ist class  and  their  sympathizers. 

3. — The  Position  Stated. 

Now  my  argument  is:  That  the  general  spirit  and 
teaching,  and  the  historical  outlook  of  the  Bible  leads 
inevitably  to  a  direct  impeachment  of  the  Capitalist 
System.  If  the  Bible  is  truth,  then  the  spirit  and 
basis,  the  practice  and  outcome  of  Capitalism  will 
stand  accused  and  condemned  as  morally  wrong,  and 
the  church  should  lead  the  people  against  that  unjust 
and  unrighteous  Capitalist  System. 

And  on  the  other  hand:  With  the  same  standard 
of  Bible  judgment  the  general  spirit  and  purpose  and 
program  of  Socialism  will  be  found  to  be  a  practical 
application  to  modern  industrial  problems  of  that 
humane  spirit  and  ethical  trend  of  the  teaching  of  the 
Bible.  And  the  church  should  be  in  the  very  van- 
guard of  the  Socialist  Movement  advocating  this  So- 
cialist cause,  and  bulwarking  Socialist  legislation,  and 
the  Socialist  reconstruction  of  industrial  society. 

The  Social  Conscience  of  the  people,  through  the 
preaching  of  the  social  message  of  the  Bible,  should 
be  awakened  and  turned  against  Capitalism  as  our 
common  moral  and  social  enemy.  And  that  same 
moral  and  social  energy  should  espouse  this  new  mes- 
sianic movement,  and  help  to  bring  it  to  its  sacred 
triumph  over  social  injustice. 

The  Bible  naturally  divides  itself  into  three  epochal 
periods  of  moral  and  social  teaching — (1)  that  of 
Moses,  (2)  of  the  prophets,  and  (3)  of  Jesus.  In 
each  of  these  we  will  find  the  most  overwhelming 
moral  support  of  the  Socialist  Movement. 


8  THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM. 

I. 
THE  WORK  OF  MOSES. 

The  argument  against  Capitalism  and  for  Socialism 
in  the  history  of  Moses  stands  out  as  plainly  and  un- 
mistakably as  the  Great  Pyramid  on  the  sands  of 
Egypt. 

Here  we  have  a  plain  story  of  industrial  oppression 
— a  set  of  dictators  and  lords  of  the  people — a  capital- 
ist class  of  that  period — living  in  idleness  and  splen- 
dor and  extravagance  on  the  product  of  the  toil  of 
the  helpless  working  class,  and  controlling  their  means 
of  existence.  Pharaoh  and  his  aristocracy  of  nobles 
and  priests  is  a  type  of  industrial  tyranny  strikingly 
like  our  present  capitalism,  allowing  for  the  changes 
of  centuries. 

Listen  to  the  simple  Bible  narrative:  "They  did 
set  over  them  taskmasters  to  afflict  them  with  their 
burdens.  The  Egyptians  made  the  children  of  Israel 
to  serve  with  rigor.  And  they  made  their  lives  bitter 
with  hard  labor,  in  mortar,  and  in  brick,  and  in  all 
manner  of  service  in  the  field. "  They  took  away  the 
straw  and  exacted  the  full  day's  work.  They  increased 
their  hours.  The  taskmasters  speeded  them  up.  And 
the  foremen  lost  their  jobs  when  they  did  not  get  the 
full  tale  of  work  out  of  the  under  slaves. 

And  finally  these  overworked,  underfed,  exhausted, 
broken-spirited  workers  cried  out  in  anguish  of  spirit 
against  their  capitalistic  oppressors.  They  sank  down 
in  despair  in  the  face  of  their  plutocratic  masters. 
They  were  too  fearful  to  resist  as  units,  too  ignorant 
to  combine.  They  lacked  the  intelligence  necessary 
for  organized  resistance.  Their  case  was  hopeless  be- 
yond words.  The  record  of  their  sufferings  and  dis- 
tress, their  misery  and  poverty,  is  one  long  harrow- 
ing tale  of  Social  Injustice  and  economic  oppression, 
and  industrial  tyranny. 

It  is  at  this  point  in  the  tragedy  of  their  slavery 


THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM.  9 

that  the  name  of  God  is  introduced.  Whoever  God 
is,  whatever  guess  any  theology  may  offer  us,  the 
most  striking  character  of  the  Divine  Being  as  re- 
vealed in  the  books  of  Moses,  is  that  God  is  abso- 
lutely against  the  oppressor,  no  matter  how  steeped 
in  religion  Pharaoh  and  his  soothsayers  may  be;  and 
absolutely  for  the  social  deliverance  of  the  exploited 
workers  from  industrial  injustice. 

No  juggling  with  Bible  texts  can  ever  make  the 
common  people  ultimately  believe  that  the  God  of 
Moses  is  a  God  whose  spirit  can  give  moral  support 
to  Capitalism,  or  to  any  other  form  of  exploitation  of 
human  lives:  "And  the  children  of  Israel  sighed  by 
reason  of  their  bondage,  and  they  cried,  and  their 
cry  came  up  unto  God  by  reason  of  their  bondage. " 
There  you  have  it.  God  is  here  revealed  as  hearing 
the  cry  of  physically  exploited  men,  and  directing  a 
man  to  organize  them  for  resistance  to  the  oppressor. 
It  is  God  who  inspires  him  to  lead  them  to  social  and 
economic  freedom.  And  from  first  to  last  this  char- 
acter of  God  in  the  Mosaic  account  and  this  meaning 
to  his  presence  in  history  never  once  takes  a  second- 
ary place. 

1.— The  Work  of  Moses. 

Follow  that  Divine  Voice  in  the  first  dialogue  with 
Moses.  Mark  the  awful  simplicity  and  directness  of 
the  charge: 

"I  have  surely  seen  the  affliction  of  my  people: 
The  cry  of  the  children  of  Israel  is  come  unto  me: 
and  I  have  seen  the  oppression  wherewith  the  Egyp- 
tians oppress  them." 

Moreover,  God  does  not  seek  for  individualistic  ac- 
cusations of  vice  and  drink  and  idleness  against  these 
people:  "I  have  heard  their  cry  by  reason  of  their 
taskmasters.9' 

Still  further.  There  is  no  religious  message  so- 
called  about  spiritual  things.  The  priesthood  of  Egypt 


10  THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM. 

never  tired  of  defining  God  and  expounding  the  doc- 
trines of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead.  God  speaks  to  Moses  concern- 
ing the  social,  economic,  and  industrial  deliverance 
of  the  people — a  deliverance  to  an  actual  physical 
condition  of  industrial  freedom  in  the  world  where 
they  must  get  a  living.  The  subject  of  thought  is  as 
materialistic  as  that  of  the  rawest  socialist  on  a  soap- 
box. 

And  to  Moses:  "Come,  now,  therefore,  and  I  will 
send  thee  unto  Pharaoh,  that  thou  may'st  bring  forth 
my  people  out  of  Egypt. "  Thus  the  distinct  call  of 
Moses  was  to  be  a  labor  leader,  to  inspire,  organize, 
and  free  these  exploited  workers. 

Prof.  Kent,  in  his  recent  critical  book,  "  The  His- 
torical Bible/'  tells  us  that  after  biblical  criticism  has 
done  its  utmost  with  the  books  of  Moses,  the  work 
of  Moses  as  a  great  social  deliverer  of  a  working  class 
from  their  economic  oppressors,  stands  out  in  bold 
relief.  He  says  that  Moses  experienced  "a  vivid 
conception  of  Jehovah's  transcendent  holiness  and 
majesty,"  and  immediately  "an  irresistible  impression 
of  the  needs  of  the  oppressed  Hebrews,  of  the  possii 
bility  of  their  deliverance  and  of  his  own  obligation 
to  return  and  lead  them  forth."  The  holiness  and 
majesty  of  God  is  the  inspiration  of  the  Social  Mis- 
sion of  Moses,  and  the  ground  of  the  economic  eman- 
cipation for  his  people.  And  from  first  to  last 
throughout  his  inspired  career  this  social  saviorship 
never  takes  a  secondary  place. 

2. — The  Career  of  Moses. 

This  mission,  and  this  conception  of  God  turns  the 
whole  course  of  his  life.  For  this  he  attacks  Pharaoh 
right  upon  his  throne.  His  miracles  are  wrought  for 
this  purpose.  To  this  end  the  plagues  strike  the  op- 
pressor. The  passover  is  the  commemorative  feast 
of  deliverance  from  the  slave  driver,  as  the  Song  of 


THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM.  11 

Moses  is  the  jubilee  ode  of  their  actual  escape  to  free 
soil.  The  Sabbath  was  not  instituted  for  religious 
gatherings  or  ceremonies  of  any  kind,  but  as  a  day 
of  rest  and  recuperation  and  recreation  for  man  and 
beast,  unlike  the  incessant  toil  of  life  under  the  task- 
masters. The  mighty  intercessory  prayers  of  Moses 
are  for  bread  and  water — the  first  material  necessi- 
ties for  his  people,  and  type  of  all  the  physical  basis 
of  life.  "If  Jehovah  delighteth  in  us,"  cried  Moses, 
"then  he  will  bring  us  into  this  land  which  floweth 
with  milk  and  honey  .  .  .  ."  The  judges  he  appointed 
to  assist  him  were  to  be  men  who  "hated  unjust  gain." 
In  the  laws  of  Deuteronomy,  Justice  toward  the  resi- 
dent alien,  and  kindness  to  the  poor  are  urged  "be- 
cause Israel  was  a  slave  in  the  land  of  Egypt  and 
Jehovah  thy  God  redeemed  thee."  All  later  Hebrew 
literature  abounds  in  references  to  this  event.  The 
words  "  Salvation  "  and  "  Redemption  "  are  first  used 
of  their  emancipation  from  their  capitalistic  exploiters. 
The  Psalms  would  be  meaningless  without  this  his- 
toric background.  Amos  and  Hosea  appeal  to  it  as 
the  supreme  reason  why  Israel  should  be  loyal  to 
Jehovah.  The  goodness  and  power  of  God  had  been 
manifested  in  delivering  them  from  the  industrial  op- 
pressor and  leading  them  to  a  land  of  plenty. 

In  forty  long  and  tedious  years  the  vision  of  com- 
plete social  and  economic  freedom  for  his  people  never 
faded  from  the  soul  of  this  mighty  man.  Nothing 
could  show  more  vividly  how  deeply  this  mission  com- 
manded his  inmost  being,  and  how  vital  it  was  in  all 
his  fellowship  with  God  than  the  last  sacred  hour  of 
his  glorious  career:  "And  Moses  went  to  the  top  of 
Pisgah  and  Jehovah  showed  him  all  the  land  and 
said,  This  is  the  land  which  I  have  promised  with  an 
oath  ...  I  have  caused  thee  to  see  it  with  thine  eyes' 
.  .  .  and  Jehovah  buried  him  .  .  .  ' 

The  last  thought  of  his  life,  the  last  sight  of  his 
eye,  was  not  a  disclosure  of  bliss  in  heaven  for  him- 


12  THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM. 

self,  but  the  land  of  freedom  on  earth  for  his  people. 

How  sublime!     It  was  such  a  man  of  whom   it  is 
written,  "Jehovah  knew  him  face  to  face." 


3. — -Socialism  in   Canaan. 

It  is  significant  to  note  that  the  three  great  social 
bases  of  the  commonwealth  founded  in  Canaan  cor- 
respond exactly  to  three  great  demands  of  Socialism. 

(1)  The    land    was    socially    owned,    and    socially 
administered  in  behalf  of  all  the  tribes  and  all  the 
families,  the  year  of  Jubilee  securing  again  to  any 
that  which  had  been  lost  by  the  misfortunes  of  affairs. 
Landlordism  was  utterly  forbidden  and  was  practically 
unknown. 

(2)  Interest  on  money  or  on  any  loan  was  abso- 
lutely prohibited.     "  Thou  shalt  not  lend  upon  usury 
to  thy  brother,   usury  of  money,   usury  of  victuals, 
usury  of  anything  that  is  lent  upon  usury."     One  of 
the  most  respectable  and  accredited  methods  of  rob- 
bing the  people  in  our  time,  is  listed  in  the  Mosaic 
code  among  the  vilest  of  social  crimes.     On  the  con- 
trary, gratuitous  lending  was  commanded,  lest  the  poor 
might  fall  under  the  greed  of  the  money  lender. 

(3)  The  principle  by  which  tools  or  machinery  was 
to  be  secured  to  the  use  of  the  workman  is  strongly 
stated  in  the  social  law  of  the  millstone.     "  No  man 
shall  take  the  nether  or  the  upper  millstone  to  pledge: 
for  he  taketh  a  man's  life  to  pledge."     Modern  ma- 
chinery  is  both  the  upper   and   nether  millstone  of 
the  workers  today,  and  indeed  the  very  life  basis  of 
the   working-class.      The    object    of   Socialism    is   to 
guarantee  access  of  every  worker  to  this  means  of 
life,  now  in  the  hands  of  the  capitalist  class.     Every 
hour   Capitalism   continues    "  the   upper   and   nether 
millstone"  of  modern  machinery  is  being  taken  away 
from  the  people. 


THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM.  13 

4. — The  Spirituality  of  Such  Materialism. 

This  materialism  of  the  Divine  Being  is  a  revela- 
tion of  the  deepest  spirituality.  God's  determination 
to  bring  these  people  out  of  industrial  oppression  was 
his  way  of  showing  that  the  "  heart  of  the  Eternal 
is  most  wonderfully  kind."  Your  moral  support  of 
Capitalism  and  indifference  to  Socialism,  by  which  the 
working  class  is  kept  in  the  grip  of  plutocracy  is 
atheism  and  infidelity  to  that  God. 

Moses'  conviction  that  he  could  not  live  in  peace 
with  God  unless  he  moved  heaven  and  earth,  seas 
and  thrones  to  deliver  these  people  from  Social  In- 
justice, was  the  revelation  of  his  love  to  man,  and 
of  their  interests  up  to  the  very  highest. 

God's  materialism — his  interest  in  land,  money, 
tools,  slaves,  bread  and  water,  for  the  people — is  a 
revelation  of  the  Spirituality  of  the  Divine  Nature. 
The  corresponding  Materialism  of  Moses  is  the  simple 
open  vision  of  his  soul,  that  takes  it  for  granted  that 
a  whipped  slave  is  infinitely  more  valuable  than  all 
the  obelisks,  palaces,  pyramids,  and  religious  temples 
and  paraphernalia  that  a  proud,  haughty  and  ruthless 
plutocracy  can  erect.  We  would  to  God  that  the 
modern  men  who  profess  to  speak  for  God  could  get 
baptized  with  the  same  materialism  of  Moses  and 
Moses'  God. 

The  churches  and  preachers  today  who  by  open 
teaching  or  the  consent  of  silence  give  moral  support 
to  Capitalism,  are  faithless  to  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah, 
and  are  more  akin  to  the  priesthoods  of  Egypt  that 
bulwarked  Pharaoh  in  his  oppression,  than  to  this 
moral  and  spiritual  giant  who  championed  the  cause 
of  slaves,  and  lead  them  to  economic  freedom,  this 
giant  who  inspires  us  of  the  Socialist  Movement,  even 
yet  after  forty  centuries  to  a  corresponding  purpose 
and  program.  The  church  is  called  to  repentance  for 
its  subservience  to  the  modern  Pharaohs. 

This  part  of  the  Bible,   I  say,   stands  out  against 


14  THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM. 

Capitalism  and  for  Socialism,  as  plainly  and  unescap- 
ably  to  an  honest  heart  as  the  Great  Pyramid  stands 
out  on  the  sands  of  Egypt  to  an  honest  eye. 

I  appeal  to  the  simple  hearts  of  thousands  in  the 
Christian  churches  and  ask  you  how  can  you  read 
this  story  of  Moses,  from  your  Bibles,  and  teach  it  to 
your  children,  and  then  continue  to  uphold  by  your 
moral  influence  and  by  your  votes  this  unjust  Capit- 
alist System?  If  the  same  God  who  spoke  to  Moses 
speaks  to  you,  can  you  not  hear  the  call  to  come  with 
us  of  the  Socialist  Movement  and  lead  the  people  out 
from  under  this  modern  Pharaoh?  Is  it  not  an  awful 
perversion  of  Scripture  to  so  subdue  its  social  teach- 
ing as  to  give  moral  support  to  this  Juggernaut  Sys- 
tem? With  all  sincerity  I  ask  you  to  renounce  your 
sinful  allegiance  to  such  a  wrong  against  humanity, 
and  to  cast  in  your  lot  with  the  struggling  people 
against  Capitalism.  "I  have  heard  their  cry  by  rea- 
son of  their  taskmasters  ....  saith  the  Spirit  .... 
come,  now,  and  bring  them  forth  to  freedom." 


II 
THE  PROPHETS. 

The  second  great  division  of  the  Bible  is  the  books 
of  the  prophets,  a  literature  dating  from  about  800 
B.  C. 

No  writings  in  the  world  throb  with  such  insistent 
impeachment  of  social  and  economic  injustice  and 
such  powerful  and  irresistible  appeals  for  social  right- 
eousness as  the  utterances  of  the  Hebrew  prophets. 
The  excessive  individualism  of  modern  religion  has 
almost  entirely  covered  up  the  social  significance  of 
their  wonderful  message. 

1. — The  Historical  Setting  of  Their  Message. 

The  Jews  were  then  passing  put  of  the  simple  ag- 
ricultural stage  into  a  commercial  career  among  the 


THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM.  15 

nations.  The  story  of  the  social  conditions  in  which 
these  prophets  appear  reads  like  pages  from  the  his- 
tory of  our  own  times,  in  which  an  age  of  machin- 
ery, and  private  capitalism,  with  all  the  attendant 
wrongs  of  rampant  commercialism  has  drawn  the 
people  from  the  land  and  herded  them  in  great  cities, 
there  to  be  exploited  as  helpless  victims  caught  in 
the  maelstrom  of  world-forces. 

Historians  of  the  time  of  Amos  and  Micah  and 
Isaiah  tell  us  that  the  newly  developed  trade  fell  into 
the  hands  of  plutocrats  as  they  trampled  on  the  an- 
cient laws.  Wealth  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  the 
few.  Huge  private  estates  were  formed  out  of  the 
once  common  lands.  The  poor  landowners  were 
bought  out  or  fell  into  the  power  of  their  rich  cred- 
itors, or  were  ejected  by  violence  and  false  judgment. 
The  peasant  proprietors  were  destroyed.  The  yeo- 
manry perished.  The  cities  grew  apace,  filled  with 
the  exiles  from  the  land.  Here  they  met  the  severest 
forces  of  commercialism. 

The  aristocracy  racked  their  brains  for  new  ways 
of  consuming  the  surplus  wealth  that  they  had 
wrung  from  the  poor.  They  built  magnificent  pal- 
aces furnished  in  ivory  and  beautified  with  art.  They 
had  summer  houses  and  winter  houses,  town  houses 
and  country  houses,  while  the  poor  were  crowded  in 
their  miserable  quarters.  This  plutocracy  enriched  the 
temples  of  religion  with  their  generous  gifts,  and  lav- 
ishly endowed  the  religious  teachers  of  the  day. 

The  masses  were  meanwhile  ground  down  by  op- 
pression, and  the  cry  of  distress  filled  the  land.  Micah 
says  that  the  wealthy  "stripped  the  skin  off  the  poor, 
and  the  flesh  off  their  bodies. "  Zechariah  declares 
that  the  rich  and  powerful  dealt  with  the  people  as 
"buyers  and  sellers  of  sheep. "  Amos  calls  them  to 
repent  of  a  social  injustice  so  dark  as  to  "darken 
the  earth  in  the  clear  day."  Isaiah  pronounces 
Judgment  on  the  ruling  class:  "For  ye  have  eaten 


16  THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM. 

up  the  vineyard;  the  spoil  of  the  poor  is  in  your 
houses!  What  mean  ye  that  ye  beat  my  people  in 
pieces,  and  grind  the  faces  of  the  poor?" 

Such,  then  were  the  social  conditions  in  Judah  and 
Israel  when  the  prophets  burst  upon  them  with  the 
oracles  of  Jehovah. 

2. — The  Burden  of  Their  Message. 

Now  what  is  the  burden  of  the  message  of  these 
men  of  God?  Was  it  the  message  of  the  religious 
revivalist?  Was  it  individualistic  and  ecclesiastical 
and  priestly,  dealing  only  with  the  personal,  spiritual 
life  and  private  morality,  ignoring  the  social  needs 
of  the  people,  and  the  social  sins  incarnate  in  social 
institutions?  Nay,  verily.  The  very  opposite  is  the 
case.  These  prophets  did  not  strain  at  gnats  of  in- 
dividual sin  and  swallow  camels  of  social  injustice. 
They  dealt  primarily  with  the  social  morality  of  the 
whole  people,  as  a  nation,  as  expressed  in  the  insti- 
tutions, functions,  and  practices  of  the  national  life. 

These  Hebrew  prophets  were  social  reformers  of 
the  most  radical  type,  as  the  most  casual  reading 
of  their  lives  and  words  will  reveal.  They  caught 
the  spirit  of  Moses  and  of  Moses'  God.  Moses  had 
conspired  against  the  tyranny  of  Pharaoh,  and  or- 
ganized the  workers  into  a  vast  labor  union  and 
marched  them  to  freedom.  And  the  prophets  resist 
the  new  social  and  industrial  tyrannies  of  their  own 
people,  and  plead  the  cause  of  Social  Justice,  for  the 
poor. 

Elijah  attacked  the  king  because  of  injustice  in 
land  inclosure,  as  the  Socialists  of  England  are  do- 
ing today.  To  Elijah  God  was  the  refuge  of  the 
oppressed  and  the  support  of  the  weak  against  the 
mighty.  The  prophecies  of  Amos,  Hosea,  and  Micah 
are  almost  wholly  social  and  political,  calling  for  social 
and  economic  righteousness.  Joel  calls  upon  the  min- 
isters of  God  to  weep  and  wail  over  the  industrial 


THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM.  17 

distresses  of  the  people:  "All  trees  of  the  field  are 
dried  up;  yea,  joy  is  abashed  and  away  from  the 
children  of  men."  He  calls  the  priests  to  put  on 
mourning  and  beat  their  breasts  because,  "the  food 
is  cut  off — the  garners  are  desolate — the  corn  is  with- 
ered— the  flocks  huddle  together."  Ezekiel  pronoun- 
ces unmeasured  woes  upon  the  pastors  who  feed  them- 
selves but  neglect  the  flock  and  let  the  strong  over- 
ride the  weak.  Jeremiah  declares  that  he  has  been 
sent  to  pull  down  and  to  tear  at  unjust  and  unholy 
institutions,  to  build  anew  in  righteousness — a  revo- 
lutionist indeed  who  barely  escaped  with  his  life 
from  kings  and  nobles  and  priests.  The  first  chap- 
ter of  Isaiah  is  the  bitterest  attack  in  all  sacred 
literature  upon  ceremonial  religion  that  forgets 
Social  Justice  and  social  righteousness.  Victor 
Hugo  puts  Isaiah  in  his  list  of  the  greatest  geniuses 
of  history,  and  says,  "He  is  the  great  reproacher — 
and  fixes  a  date  for  oppressors — he  stands  at  the 
threshold  of  civilization  and  refuses  to  enter." 

Renan  believes  that  this  extraordinary  develop- 
ment of  prophetism  is  the  main  trunk  of  the  religious 
history  of  the  world.  The  aim  of  Jehovah,  in  taking 
pains  that  Israel  should  be  educated  as  a  holy  people 
was  the  triumph  of  Social  Justice.  It  is  above  all, 
by  the  conception  of  Providence  and  of  Social  Justice 
in  the  earth  that  the  Hebrew  development  differs 
from  all  peoples.  The  Hebrew  prophet  never  appeals 
to  rewards  and  punishments  beyond  the  grave.  He 
hungers  for  Justice,  and  for  speedy  Justice.  An  un- 
just world,  a  world  of  oppressed  humanity  is  in  the 
eyes  of  God  a  monstrosity.  The  Day  of  the  Lord  is 
a  day  of  Radical  Revolution :  the  triumph  of  the  weak, 
the  confusion  of  the  mighty.  They  were  unable  to 
divide  politics  and  religion.  They  invaded  the  whole 
struggle  for  existence  with  ethical  insight  as  the  oracle 
of  Jehovah.  At  a  time  when  the  idea  of  right  scarcely 
existed,  these  extraordinary  men  assumed  the  posi- 
tion of  defenders  of  the  weak  and  the  oppressed. 


18  THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM. 

They  attacked  kings,  nobles  and  judges,  and  resisted 
the  "worst  of  all  tyrannies — the  connivance  of  ignor- 
ant crowds  with  a  degraded  priesthood. " 

My  contention  is  that  the  message  of  the  prophets, 
in  spirit  and  in  detail,  is  a  powerful  ethical  impeach- 
ment of  the  whole  spirit,  practice,  and  unjust  basis 
of  modern  Capitalism.  And  the  logic  of  the  spirit 
and  historical  outlook  of  these  great  Hebrew  radicals 
is  directly  behind  and  within  the  spirit,  purpose  and 
program  of  the  Socialist  Movement  of  our  time.  I 
could  ask  no  grander  or  more  tremendous  impetus  to 
the  Social  Revolution  than  a  saturation  of  the  mind 
of  the  working  class  with  the  unequaled  fervor  and 
vision  of  these  great  inspired  Tribunes  of  the  People, 
these  Heralds  of  Justice. 

3. — Social  Justice — No  Substitutes. 

There  is  one  supreme  distinction  of  the  message 
of  the  prophets  which  is  particularly  an  argument  for 
the  Socialist  Cause,  and  pre-eminently  the  religious 
need  of  our  time.  The  prophets  absolutely  repudi- 
ated the  three  grand,  imposing  substitutes  and  coun- 
terfeits for  social  righteousness  always  offered  by 
decadent  priesthoods  whose  spiritual  teaching  bul- 
warks social  injustice.  These  three  substitutes  are: 
(1)  correct  theology,  with  an  accompanying  phar- 
isaism  in  morals,  and  charity-mongering;  (2)  mere 
religious  emotionalism;  and  (3)  ritualism  and  cere- 
mony. These  three  the  prophets  of  Israel  had  to 
meet. 

The  religious  consciousness  is  fundamental  in  man. 
If  that  consciousness  does  not  find  normal  expression 
in  human  brotherhood,  and  right  social  and  eco- 
nomic relations,  then  it  will  become  prostituted  in 
abnormal  forms  of  expression.  If  any  man  does 
not  want  Social  Justice  in  the  use  of  land  and  ma- 
chinery for  bread-getting,  and  to  secure  life  and  liberty 
to  the  worker  he  does  not  want  anything  for  humanity. 


THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM.  19 

Any  religion  that  dodges  this  issue  and  practices  sub- 
stitutes is  vain.  These  three  substitutes  for  real  right- 
eousness have  to  be  punctured  in  order  to  fully  reveal 
the  will  of  God  as  simply  love  and  freedom — love  and 
freedom  in  actual  human  relations  of  our  common 
work-a-day  life. 

1.  The  first  substitute  generally  offered  for  real 
downright    Social    Justice    among    men    is    correct 
dogma.    Even  to  this  day  this  is  a  pleasant  release 
for  the  powerful  oppressors  of  mankind.     The  hun- 
dred  richest   exploiters   and   trustmakers  in   America 
are  members  of  churches.     And  tens  of  thousands  of 
the   richest   profit-mongers   in   the   various   cities   are 
prominent  church  men.     They  believe,   or  say  they 
believe,  or  at  least  give  assent  to  the  accepted  ortho- 
doxy.   It  is  not  only  easy,  but  popular,  and  profitable. 

This  exaltation  of  orthodox  opinion  and  assent  to 
dogma  over  simple  love  and  brotherhood  and  tender 
Justice  among  men  dates  from  the  adulteration  of 
primitive  Christianity  by  Greek  philosophy.  There  is 
scarcely  a  hint  of  it  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  So 
it  is  with  the  Hebrew  prophets.  They  did  not  ex- 
pound philosophical  doctrines  or  speculative  religious 
dogmas.  They  appealed  to  the  heart,  to  the  con- 
science— to  the  social  conscience.  And  when  they  ap- 
pealed they  did  not  deal  with  trivial  offenses,  or  petty 
sins,  but  with  the  manifest  sins  that  were  blighting 
the  nation — sins  that  any  man  might  see  any  time  he 
cared  to  look. 

In  this  respect  the  Socialist  Movement  is  singu- 
larly identical  in  spirit  and  moral  trend  with  the  mes- 
sage of  the  prophets. 

2.  The  second  grand  substitute  for  social  democ- 
racy,  as  the  basic  element  in  the  practical  religious 
life    is    religious    emotionalism.      The    cultivators    of 
this  substitute  in  the  times  of  the  prophets  are  among 
the    "false    prophets"    so    fearfully    berated    in    the 
prophetic  literature.     One  class  consisted   of  a  sort 


20  THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM. 

of  emotional  evangelists  "filled  with  an  infectious  en- 
thusiasm by  which  they  excited  each  other. "  Even 
Saul  "got  under  the  power/'  stripped  off  his  clothes 
and  lay  prostrate  a  day  and  a  night.  The  other  group 
of  these  "false  prophets"  were  simply  preachers  like 
many  today  without  vision,  who  were  quite  at  peace 
with  existing  evils.  "They  were  not  always  conscious 
liars.  They  were  the  mouthpiece  of  the  average 
opinion."  A  passage  from  Prof.  Geo.  Adam  Smith 
will  reveal  at  once  the  secret  of  their  false  prophecy, 
and  show  how  it  affected  their  relation  to  the  rich 
and  the  poor:  "Micah's  tyrants,  too,  had  religion  to 
support  them.  A  number  of  hireling  prophets  whom 
we  have  seen  both  Amos  and  Hosea  attack,  gave  their 
blessing  to  the  social  system  which  crushed  the  poor, 
for  they  shared  its  profits."  (Mark  the  modern  par- 
allel which  the  Social  Revolution  discloses.)  "Those 
false  prophets  lived  upon  the  alms  of  the  rich,  and 
flattered  according  as  they  were  fed."  At  Ahab's 
table  sat  four  hundred  of  these  fellows — "subservience 
to  the  powerful  had  made  them  liars."  "To  them 
Micah  devotes  the  second  oracle  of  chapter  three. 
And  we  find  confirmed  by  his  words  the  principle  that 
in  that  age  the  true  prophet  was  what  it  has  been  in 
every  age  since  then  till  now — an  ethical  difference, 
and  not  a  difference  of  dogma,  or  tradition,  or  eccles- 
iastical note.  The  false  prophet  spoke,  consciously  or 
unconsciously,  for  himself  and  his  living.  He  sided 
with  the  rich;  he  shut  his  eyes  to  the  social  condi- 
tion of  the  people;  he  did  not  attack  the  sins  of  the 
day.  This  made  him  false,  robbed  him  of  insight 
and  the  power  of  prediction.  But  the  true  prophet 
exposed  the  sins  of  the  people.  Ethical  insight  and 
courage,  burning  indignation  of  wrong,  clear  vision 
of  the  facts  of  the  day — this  was  what  Jehovah's 
spirit  put  into  him,  this  was  what  Micah  felt  to  be 
inspiration." 

Now  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  whenever  in  the 


THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM.  21 

Christian  centuries  emphasis  has  been  placed  on  some 
special  phase  of  religious  emotionalism  as  a  test  of 
discipleship,  instead  of  determined  conscious  good-will 
to  men,  religion  has  become  degraded,  and  easily 
trifles  with  real  social  righteousness,  and  strains  at 
gnats  of  personal  conduct.  We  can  see  this  in  any 
village  or  city  right  now. 

The  Socialist  Movement  exposes  great  social  and 
industrial  iniquities,  giant  wrongs,  colossal  economic 
robberies  and  indeed  murders  of  the  people,  the 
tyranny  of  the  plutocracy  and  all  the  unrighteousness 
directly  inherent  in  Capitalism.  Socialism  like  the 
prophets  is  not  inspiring  a  passing  emotion  of  pity  or 
sympathy,  or  philanthropy,  but  is  calling  the  deter- 
mined conscious  intelligent  will  of  masses  of  men  to 
the  establishment  of  Social  Justice  in  actual  every- 
day human  relations.  In  this  respect  the  moral 
fervor,  and  historical  direction  of  Hebrew  prophetism 
finds  its  modern  counterpart  more  nearly  in  the  So- 
cialist Movement  than  in  any  other  movement  or  in- 
stitution of  our  times,  the  church  not  excepted. 

3.  The  Prophets  and  ritual.  But  the  supreme 
attack  of  the  prophets  was  upon  the  religion  of  ritual- 
ism and  ceremonialism.  As  long  as  the  people  thought 
that  God  could  be  pleased  with  prayers,  and  songs, 
and  ceremonies,  and  the  repetition  of  formulae,  on 
stated  high  and  holy  days,  and  sacred  services  con- 
ducted by  robed  and  dignified  religious  officials — as 
long  as  the  religious  consciousness  spent  itself  in 
this  way,  the  prophets  could  make  no  headway  in 
getting  the  people  really  right  with  God,  nor  could 
they  free  the  people  from  the  injustice  that  was 
rampant  and  unquestioned  in  the  midst  of  all  this 
palaver. 

The  issue  is  plain,  I  am  sure.  Surely  there  can 
be  no  true  service  or  worship  of  the  living  God  that 
does  not  lovingly  and  devotedly  serve  humanity. 
Surely  there  can  be  no  true  service  to  humanity  that 


22  THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM. 

leaves  men  the  victims  of  poverty,  misery,  unem- 
ployment, and  the  tragedies  of  the  struggle  for  mere 
bread,  in  the  presence  of  colossal  trusts  in  control  of  a 
handful  of  plutocrats,  that  rob  and  plunder  the  peo- 
ple, and  gamble  with  the  resources  of  the  nation. 
Surely,  surely  any  effort  to  please  God  with  religious 
palaver  while  ignoring  these  supreme  wrongs  and 
awful  sufferings — surely  such  is  a  delusion  and  a 
snare.  And  so  the  prophets  taught.  And  so  Jesus 
taught  later  as  he  saw  the  rich  devouring  widows' 
houses  and  seeking  to  strike  a  balance  with  God  by 
their  long  prayers.  And  with  this  the  Socialist  Move- 
ment agrees. 

(a) — Amos  Attack  on  Mere  Ritualism. 

Amos  the  first  and  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  pro- 
phets, makes  ceremonial  religion  the  "chief  target  of 
his  shafts. "  He  saw  the  people,  under  the  guidance 
of  their  religious  leaders,  pouring  the  energy  of  the 
religious  consciousness  into  their  pleasing  religious 
exercises  on  the  Sabbath  and  other  holy  days.  To 
go  to  the  temple  or  church,  to  chant  the  sacred  songs, 
to  repeat  the  prayers — all  of  this  became  a  sanctioned 
routine,  offered  as  specially  pleasing  to  God.  To 
neglect  it  was  to  be  "ungodly."  And  it  became  a  most 
pleasant  and  profitable  substitute  for  real  social  and 
economic  righteousness  as  it  is  this  very  day  in  New 
York,  Chicago  and  Los  Angeles.  Such  a  substi- 
tute actually  hides  the  living  God,  dulls  the  Social 
Conscience,  and  makes  insight  on  the  great  wrongs 
and  corresponding  remedies,  almost  impossible.  Per- 
haps some  devoted  church  member  is  now  reading 
these  lines.  How  much  time  and  energy  do  you  give 
to  Social  Justice — to  the  Economic  Freedom  of  the 
people?  How  much  do  you  care?  Is  the  subject  on 
your  mind? 

To  Amos,  Judgment  must  begin  at  the  house  of 
God.  Not  that  Amps  wished  to  attack  this  pleasing 
"churchianity"  of  his  time  as  a  thing  in  itself.  He 


THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM.  23 

attacked  it  because  the  people  made  it  take  the  place 
of  real  Social  Righteousness,  and  gave  moral  sanction 
to  the  wrong  social  conditions.  We  of  the  Socialist 
Movement  think  we  go  far  when  we  declare  that 
modern  religion,  by  its  silence  concerning  Capitalism, 
is  bulwarking  Social  Injustice.  Amos  went  further. 
He  looked  upon  these  religious  places  as  the  very 
fountain  of  the  social  corruption,  for  the  reason  that 
the  big  preachers  and  religious  functionaries  of  that 
time  were  admitted  to  councils  of  state,  associated 
with  the  plutocrats  of  the  time,  and  became  associated 
in  feelings  and  interests  with  the  corrupt  and  tyran- 
nical aristocracy.  Amos  utterly  repudiated  the  en- 
tire cult  and  all  its  doings.  He  scorned  it.  He  ridi- 
culed it.  He  caricatured  it.  In  one  place  after  an 
outburst  upon  it,  in  which  he  calls  the  very  worship 
blasphemy  and  transgression,  he  actually  goes  on  to 
say,  in  the  original  Hebrew,  'The  house  of  God  shall 
go  to  the  devil !"  For  thus  neglecting  the  real  human 
interests  of  the  people,  they  had  made  it  no  longer 
the  house  of  God. 

God  is  represented  as  speaking  through  Amos  with 
the  utmost  abhorrence  of  the  whole  ceremonial  ac- 
tivity and  in  the  same  breath  calls  for  the  real  right- 
eousness of  Justice  in  the  national  life.  "I  hate,  I 
loathe  your  festivals, "  saith  the  Lord.  "Your  thank- 
offering  of  fatted  calves,  I  will  not  look  at  them." 
To  their  religious  music,  the  finest  the  art  of  the  day 
could  produce,  God  will  stop  his  ear.  "Let  cease  from 
me  the  noise  of  thy  song!  To  the  playing  of  thy 

viols  I  will  not  listen but  let  Justice  roll  ^m 

like    water    and    righteousness     like      an     unfailing 

stream."     Nothing  could  be  simpler  or  plainer  than 

this. 

(b) — The  Denunciation  of  Isaiah. 

Isaiah  adds  his  terrible  denunciation  of  this  sub- 
stitute of  mere  church-going,  and  psalm-singing,  and 
religious  ceremonial  generally.  No  commentary  can 


24  THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM. 

add  vigor  to  the  vehement  scorn  of  the  old  prophet 
to  the  whole  of  it.  "To  what  purpose  is  the  multi- 
tude of  your  sacrifices  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord.  I 
am  full  of  the  burnt  offerings  of  rams  and  the  fat  of 
fed  beasts.  .  .  .  Bring  no  more  vain  oblations;  incense 
is  an  abomination  unto  me.  .  .  .  Your  prayer  meeting 
even,  is  iniquity  .  .  .  yea,  when  ye  make  many  prayers 
I  will  not  hear,  for  your  hands  are  full  of  blood/' 
(the  blood  of  human  beings  suffering  the  social  In- 
justice of  the  time.)  ....  therefore  "Seek  Justice 

relieve  the  oppressed then  though 

your  sins  be  red  like  crimson  they  shall  be  as  wool." 

Thus  we  see  the  bitterness  of  the  attack  on 
formal  religion  made  by  the  prophets  was  made  be- 
cause the  preachers  and  people  poured  their  moral 
and  religious  energy  into  religiousness  instead  of 
into  righteousness.  Such  a  state  of  affairs  had  to  be 
interrupted.  Judgment  had  to  begin  at  the  house  of 
God.  And  the  same  has  had  to  happen  again  and 
again  in  human  history  ever  since.  And  the  same 
must  now  occur  again.  The  Socialists  have  no  reason 
to  meddle  with  any  form  of  religion  that  people  may 
choose  to  indulge  in.  But  when  that  religion  exalts 
itself  as  the  will  of  God  over  the  souls  of  the 
people,  and  turns  the  moral  energies  of  the  people 
away  from  the  simple  righteousness  of  brotherhood 
and  Social  Justice,  and  thus  actually  sustains  and 
sanctifies  Capitalism,  then  it  is  open  to  attack  as 
a  menace  to  the  freedom  of  the  people  on  the  ground 
of  being  a  moral  sanction  to  economic  tyranny  and 
injustice. 

All  the  modern  critics  of  the  prophetic  literature 
make  this  Social  Radicalism  stand  out  supreme. 
There  are  not  two  sides  to  the  question.  Whatever 
else  these  mighty  men  were,  whatever  other  elements 
can  be  gathered  from  their  writings,  and  there  are 
such,  this  social  revolutionism  in  the  name  of 
Jehovah  is  pre-eminent  If  any  prominent  preacher 


THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM.  25 

in  New  York  or  London  should  fill  his  sermons  or 
books  with  such  vehement  social  teachings,  so  plain, 
straight,  undiluted,  and  frequent,  he  would  become  a 
nuisance  to  our  respectable  church-going  classes.  No 
petty  moralising  or  eloquent  treatment  of  other  themes 
sandwiched  in  would  atone  for  such  utterance  con- 
cerning the  supreme  curse  of  our  time. 

The  logic  of  an  honest  sympathetic  hearkening 
to  the  message  of  the  Hebrew  prophets  makes  a 
man  a  Socialist  in  our  day — an  avowed,  aggressive 
antagonist  of  Capitalism.  Thus  the  second  great 
division  of  Scripture  stands  for  Socialism. 


III. 
THE  LIFE  OF  JESUS. 

The  Bible  is  the  most  dangerously  radical  book  ever 
placed  in  human  hands.  The  secret  of  the  revolu- 
tionary character  of  the  Bible  is  that  nothing  ever 
read  by  man  places  such  infinite  value  upon  human 
personality  as  does  this  book.  Presumably  it  is  a 
revelation  of  God:  actually  it  is  an  interpretation  oi 
human  values  as  opposed  to  every  other  value  in  the 
world. 

We  have  seen  how  in  the  mind  of  Moses  who  knew 
God  face  to  face  the  meanest  slave  in  the  clay  pits 
of  Egypt  was  infinitely  more  valuable  than  the  dyn- 
asties of  kings.  Democracy  buds  early  in  this 
dangerous  book.  As  for  the  prophets,  even  their 
vision  of  Jehovah,  seems  at  times  to  be  simply  back- 
ground in  which  to  set  the  value  of  human  personal- 
ity. They  defy  kings,  ridicule  priesthoods  and  attack 
judges,  for  the  sake  of  the  common  people.  But 
when  we  come  down  to  the  prophet  of  Nazareth,  every 
other  value  seems  to  fade  to  nothingness,  and  the 
meanest  outcast,  the  lowest  mudsill,  the  most  neglec- 
ted and  forgotten  specimen  of  humanity  lights  up  as 


26  THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM. 

a  gem  in  a  dark  place,  and  is  clothed  by  his  vision  in 
a  radiance  transcendent. 

Men  may  wrangle  forever  over  the  theologies  that 
they  think  they  dig  out  of  the  gospels,  but  on  this 
supreme  value  in  the  mind  of  Jesus  of  the  com- 
monest human  life,  the  least  and  the  last,  there  is 
no  dispute.  He  did  not  love  fame  or  power  or 
money.  He  did  not  love  himself.  He  did  not  love 
his  own  life.  He  cared  for  nothing  but  human 
beings.  And  if  any  received  more  care  in  his  thought 
than  others,  they  were  those  neglected  by  the  rest, 
the  disregarded  and  unthought  of  by  the  ruling  classes 
in  church  and  state. 

No  mere  marshalling  of  texts  from  the  Gospels  will 
suffice  us  to  prove  or  disprove  whether  the  teaching 
of  Jesus  leads  to  the  impeachment  of  Capitalism  and 
the  defence  of  Socialism — though  even  by  this  method 
also  we  Socialists  have  it  all  our  own  way.  We  must 
somehow  get  a  cross-section  of  the  spirit,  feel  the 
inner  pulse  of  that  majestic  character  in  history,  be- 
fore we  can  satisfactorily  make  our  argument  and 
appeal. 

There  is  something  in  the  Gospels  that  transcends 
writers,  texts,  doctrines,  parables  and  miracles.  It 
is  a  life — a  life  as  intangible  as  light — a  spirit.  It 
is  the  soul  of  which  that  wonderful  story  is  merely 
the  body.  It  is  the  disclosure  of  this  soul  of  the 
Gospels  that  shall  uncover  the  inhumanity  of  Capit- 
alism and  reveal  the  Socialist  movement  as  a  new 
coming  of  the  same  Christ-spirit  once  more  in  the 
human  drama. 

There  is  an  unmistakable  democratic  coloring  to 
the  whole  career  of  Jesus  that  makes  him  an  his- 
torical heritage  of  the  common  people.  Had  not 
theologies  and  ecclesiasticism  distorted  the  simple 
story,  struggling  slaves,  and  social  outcasts,  and  the 
people  baffled  by  kings,  tyrants,  lords  and  capitalist 
exploiters,  in  all  the  centuries  would  revere  the  name 
of  Jesus,  as  a  veritable  hero  of  the  common  people. 


THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM.  27 

This  democratic  coloring  of  the  career  of  Jesus  is 
not  without  vast  social  significance.  Joseph  was  a 
carpenter  at  a  bench,  his  mother  a  peasant  girl.  While 
she  bears  her  unborn  child,  Mary  sings  a  revolution- 
ary song  in  this  wise:  "He  hath  put  down  the  mighty 
from  their  seats,  he  bath  exalted  them  of  low  degree. 
The  poor  he  hath  filled  with  good  things:  the  rich 
he  hath  sent  empty  away."  It  was  to  a  group  of  the 
comomnest  laborers,  namely  shepherds,  not  to  priests 
at  the  temple  or  kings  at  court,  that  the  announce- 
ment of  his  birth  was  first  made.  Crowded  out  of  the 
poorest  lodging  house,  Mary  gives  birth  to  her  babe 
in  a  stable — no  kings,  no  priests,  no  ruling  class,  no 
aristocracy,  present.  When  he  makes  his  first  public 
appearance,  it  is  in  association  with  a  socialistic  agi- 
tator, a  wild  unkempt  Elijah,  an  unordained,  un- 
scheduled, unofficial  prophet  who  was  later  put  to 
death,  Josephus  tells  us,  as  a  dangerous  demagogue. 
John  was  castigating  the  ruling  classes,  particularly 
those  of  the  church  of  his  time,  and  a  hint  of  his 
social  message  is  seen  in  the  phrase:  "He  that  hath 
two  coats  give  to  him  that  hath  none;  he  that  hath 
meat  do  likewise."  It  was  under  the  hands  of  this 
man,  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  common  people,  that 
Jesus  was  filled  with  the  overwhelming  sense  of  his 
Messiahship. 

When  he  enters  upon  his  own  public  work  he  ac- 
cepts no  official  dignities,  calls  his  helpers  from  the 
ranks  of  greasy  fishermen,  and  on  the  roadside,  or 
hillside,  or  seaside  talks  to  the  common  people  who 
tread  at  his  heels  and  hear  him  gladly.  His  meet- 
ings are  destitute  of  any  religious  ceremony  what- 
ever— prayer,  song,  liturgy  or  ritual — as  informal  and 
natural  as  the  grouping  of  autumn  leaves  by  the  wind 
of  October.  He  even  warns  his  hearers  against 
praying  in  public  at  all — and  prayer  is  at  once  the 
simplest  and  the  greatest  religious  ceremony.  He  paid 
no  attention  to  the  gorgeous  temple  of  God  glittering 


28  THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM. 

on  Mt.  Moriah  and  declared  that  the  dirtiest  vagrant 
in  his  motley  crowd  was  the  temple  of  the  living  God. 
He  lashed  the  ruling  class  in  church  and  state — the 
Sadducee  and  Pharisee — with  merciless  castigation  for 
the  simple  reason  that  they  stood  between  the  com- 
mon people  and  real  freedom.  Explain  it  as  you  may 
he  blessed  the  poor  and  pronounced  woes  upon  the 
rich,  and  though  preachers  in  all  centuries  since  have 
tried  to  bulge  the  needle's  eye  to  let  the  rich  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  he  left  it  as  he  first  stated  it.  He 
warned  against  laying  up  treasures  on  earth,  perhaps 
for  the  simple  reason  that  treasure  chests  can  not  be 
filled  by  the  product  of  one's  own  labor.  All  the 
great  fortunes  of  the  world  are  wrung  from  the 
labors  of  others  by  unjust  social  conditions.  His 
triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem  is  on  an  ass  with 
the  simple  populace  strewing  the  palm  branches.  It 
was  not  in  the  homes  of  the  common  people,  but  at 
the  house  of  the  high  priest  that  they  plotted  to  kill 
him.  It  was  cash  out  of  the  church  box  that  was 
handed  to  Judas.  And  in  the  final  tragedy  on  Cal- 
vary he  died  with  common  thieves,  and  while  the 
respectable  rulers  of  church  and  state  watched  his 
life  ebb  away,  he  drew  the  criminal  close  to  his 
heart  in  an  eternal  embrace. 

Jesus,  the  Carpenter  of  Nazareth,  is  the  Democracy 
of  God  Incarnate — of  God,  who  is  no  respecter  of 
persons,  each  and  every  man  of  infinite  value,  value 
as  deep  as  the  Eternal.  Such  a  quality  of  life  as  this 
of  the  Nazarene,  if  it  be  accredited  as  truth  and  not 
fanaticism,  must  over  and  over  again  precipitate  the 
world  in  revolution  upon  revolution  until  men  are 
free.  No  wonder  that  he  said,  "I  come  not  to  send 
peace  but  a  sword. " 

Three  things  must  inevitably  follow  any  devoted 
study  of  the  Life  and  Teachings  of  Jesus.  (1)  The 
heart  will  be  turned  to  see  the  divine  value  of  human 
beings,  as  such,  irrespective  of  culture,  education, 


THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM.  29 

wealth,  position,  spiritual  development,  or  any  other 
thing  whatsoever— divine  in  his  own  right.  (2)  The 
study  of  the  Life  of  Jesus  inevitably  produces  the 
reformer's  conscience.  "As  the  Father  hath  sent  me 
even  so  send  1  you:  And  I  lay  down  my  life  for  the 
sheep.  Follow  me  and  I  will  make  you  deliverers  of 
the  people."  A  conscience  at  peace  with  Social  In- 
justice crushing  human  life  can  never  be  Christian. 
Such  a  conscience  can  easily  join  church  but  cannot 
follow  the  Christ.  (3)  This  spirit  of  enthusiasm  for 
humanity  can  never  rest  in  mere  charity  and  philan- 
throphy.  The  logic  of  such  character  is  the  full  de- 
mand of  social  democracy — democracy  realized  in  all 
the  social  and  industrial  activities  of  our  common 
work-a-day  life.  The  spirit  of  Christ  can  find  no 
rest  in  our  day  until  a  truly  human  existence  is  guar- 
anteed by  Social  Justice  to  every  human  being. 

Vested  interests,  social  castes,  artificial  dignities, 
power  of  man  over  man  enthroned  in  law,  or  church, 
or  official  functions — all  have  felt  the  shock  of  this 
Interrupter  of  history — the  gentle  Nazarene — glorify- 
ing the  sacredness  of  the  elemental  man.  Another 
shock  is  now  overdue,  and  the  net  result  of  this 
real  Christianity  in  history  will  sooner  or  later  lodge 
its  momentum  against  Capitalism.  The  new  Christ- 
ianity, which  will  be  the  old  restored,  will  find  its 
world  current  through  the  International  Socialist 
movement. 

In  the  last  analysis,  this  universal  gamble  in  land, 
and  machinery,  and  the  products  of  human  labor,  on 
a  capitalistic  world  market,  is  a  gamble  in  the  very 
bodies  and  souls  of  men.  These  material  things  are 
the  bases  of  their  lives,  and  the  ground  of  all  human 
release. 

To  monopolize  land,  to  control  the  markets,  to  gam- 
ble with  human  necessities,  to  foster  trusts  in  machin- 
ery and  means  of  transportation;  to  use  the  tre- 
mendous powers  of  new  inventions  to  put  uncounted 


30  THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM. 

millions  in  the  hands  of  the  rich;  to  make  human  labor 
a  mere  commodity  on  the  labor  market,  while  the 
workers  struggle  man  against  man  for  a  bare  living; 
to  make  the  whole  world  of  industry  a  vast  field  for 
the  ruthless  and  unhindered  operation  of  the  greed, 
avarice  and  ambition  of  private  individuals  and  priv- 
ate corporations  for  their  private  enrichment,  is  to 
turn  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren of  the  working  classes  into  the  merest  pawns, 
and  playthings,  and  victims  of  the  plutocracy. 

This  is  the  essence  of  Capitalism,  and  it  is  utterly 
contrary  to  that  sublime  vision  of  the  sacredness  of 
human  life  which  is  the  soul  of  the  Christ  message 
and  spirit.  Such  a  system  is  a  monstrosity  to  the 
democratic  spirit  of  the  Christian  system.  It  stands 
condemned  without  appeal. 

The  exacting  Angel  of  History  is  about  to  foreclose 
a  long  mortgage  on  the  church.  You  have  assumed 
to  interpret  the  oracles  of  God.  You  have  declared 
your  love  for  souls.  You  have  announced  the  eternal 
value  of  the  soul.  But  if  a  man  is  valuable  any- 
where he  is  valuable  everywhere.  If  a  human  be- 
ing is  the  supreme  value  in  heaven  in  the  presence  of 
God,  then  he  is  the  supreme  value  this  morning  at 
the  factory  gates.  The  Angel  of  History  declares 
to  the  church:  "Yea,  verily,  the  value  of  souls  is  in- 
calculable. Therefore  you  are  called  upon  now  to 
overthrow  that  vast  gamble  in  human  souls  known 
as  Capitalism  and  establish  on  earth  a  social  system 
of  industry,  in  which  human  life  shall  be  the  first 
value;  a  system  in  which  the  equipment  for  making  a 
living  shall  be  administered  for  universal  human 
needs  and  human  freedom,  instead  of  for  private 
profit  of  a  ruthless  plutocracy,  which  rides  to  indus- 
trial and  financial  power  over  the  bruised  and 
broken  lives  of  the  toiling  masses." 

This  is  the  program  of  the  Socialist  Movement. 
And  no  greater  curse  could  fall  upon  the  modern 


THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM.  31 

church  than  to  disprove  the  argument  herewith  pre- 
sented. The  curse  of  upholding  Capitalism  is  already 
too  heavy  upon  the  church.  Only  long,  faithful,  and 
selfless  championship  of  the  cause  of  the  poor  and 
the  working  classes  against  the  exploiting  plutocracy 
and  distinctly  against  Capitalism  will  redeem  the 
church  from  the  dark  cloud  that  now  hangs  over  her. 
I  could  covet  for  the  preachers  no  greater  service  to 
humanity,  and  for  the  church  no  greater  mission,  at 
this  juncture  of  history,  than  to  assist  in  the  peaceful 
and  speedy  re-construction  of  the  Social  Order,  the 
transformation  of  Capitalism  into  the  Socialist  Com- 
monwealth. 

********** 

Whether  therefore  we  follow  Moses  to  the  court 
of  Pharaoh  to  resist  the  proud  tyrant,  or  go  with 
Amos  to  the  House  of  God,  there  to  jeer  with  him 
at  the  subtle  hypocrisy  and  to  cry  for  Justice  to  roll 
down  like  a  stream,  or  whether  we  catch  the  spirit 
of  the  Carpenter  of  Nazareth,  the  whole  mighty  and 
cumulative  volume  of  the  divine  energy  of  the  Bible 
leads  us  irresistibly  against  Capitalism  the  modern 
Pharaoh,  the  modern  anti-Christ.  And  that  same 
energy  urges  us  on  to  lead  the  people  to  that  new 
Canaan,  the  Co-operative  Commonwealth,  and  to  that 
new  Messianic  Age — the  establishment  of  Social 
Justice  in  the  means  of  getting  our  living  on  the 
earth. 

The  Bible  is  against  Capitalism  and  for  Socialism. 
We  summon  the  common  conscience  of  mankind  to 
the  sacred  issue!  Wherever  a  simple,  honest,  good- 
hearted  man  or  woman  of  any  sect,  seeking  to  be  a 
Christian,  reads  these  lines  I  pray  you  for  the  sake 
of  humanity  to  heed  the  word  of  truth  now  offered 

to  you* 

******** 

There  is  an  old  saying,  "Convince  a  man  against 
his  will,  he's  of  the  same  opinion  still.1'  The  coercive 


32  THE  BIBLE  ARGUMENT  FOR  SOCIALISM. 

argument  presented  in  the  foregoing  pages,  seems  ab- 
solutely unanswerable.  But  that  will  not  suffice.  Sup- 
pose we  do  prove  in  irresistible  logic  that  whoever 
would  be  a  Christian  in  our  day  must  also  be  a  Social- 
ist. Words  will  not  suffice.  Convincing  argument  is 
not  enough.  How  often  do  I  feel  this  on  the  platform. 
We  need  the  good-will  that  hurries  to  act  on  genuine 
conviction,  that  is  ready  to  sacrifice  for  a  sacred  cause, 
and  to  suffer  loss,  if  need  be  for  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  all  through  this  argument  there 
is  a  breath  of  that  spirit  which  inspires  men  and  women 
to  consecrated  devotion  to  a  holy  cause;  that  on  every 
page  the  heart,  the  will  has  been  moved  to  action. 

Do  not  complain  either  that  there  is  no  direct  ap- 
peal to  the  individual  in  terms  of  individual  salvation. 
That  is  a  perfectly  legitimate  appeal,  but  it  is  not  the 
direct  purpose  of  this  booklet.  The  purpose  of  these 
pages  is  to  appeal  to  the  common  social  conscience 
of  the  people,  and  particularly  to  the  conscience  of 
Christians  through  the  Scriptures,  and  persuade  you  to 
espouse  the  Socialist  Cause.  It  is  an  appeal  to  you 
to  apply  the  righteousness  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  to 
the  Social  and  Industrial  life. 


The  Kingdom  of  God  and  Socialism. 


I. 
INTRODUCTORY. 

r  I  ^HERE  are  two  terms*  in  our  subject  which  need 
some  brief  definition  before  we  can  adequately 
consider  the  theme  as  a  whole. 

I.    Socaal  Evolution. 

By  Social  Evolution  we  mean  the  development  of 
human  relations  and  activities  from  lower  and  simpler 
forms  to  higher  and  more  complex  forms  ;  we  mean 
that  advance  from  conditions  which  hinder  and  mar 
and  blight  human  life,  to  conditions  which  free  and 
glorify  human  life.  By  Social  Evolution  we  mean  that 
process  by  which  social  forms  and  economic  structures 
which  are  the  outgrowth  of  ignorance  and  animalism 
in  society  are  supplanted  by  social  and  industrial  forms 
which  are  the  expression  of  intelligence,  and  the  incar- 
nation of  goodwill  and  human  brotherhood. 

In  such  a  definition  of  Social  Evolution  we  take  for 
granted  that  history  is  a  progressive  realisation  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God  in  the  Earth.  Such  a  definition 
accepts  the  word  of  Jesus :  "  Every  plant,  every 
institution,  every  economic  system — that  my 
Heavenly  Father  hath  not  planted  shall  be  rooted 
up."  History  is  not  the  toss  of  events  back  and  forth 
between  static  parties  or  isolated  personalities.  It 
is  a  struggle  and  victory,  to  be  sure,  but  the  ground  of 
the  battle  moves  and  the  goal  is  ever  nearer.  The 
advance  is  from  cruelty  to  kindness  ;  from  strife  and 

*  See  prefatory   "Word"  on  opposite  page. 


2  THE    KINGDOM    OF    GOD    AND    SOCIALISM. 

antagonism  to  mutualism  ;  from  war  to  peace  ;  from 
greed  to  fellowship  ;  from  egoism  to  altruism  ;  from 
the  struggle  for  Self  to  the  struggle  for  the  Life  of 
Others.  Social  Evolution  is  from  the  Cain-spirit, 
whose  watchword  is  the  ruthless  "  Am  I  my  brother's 
keeper  ?  "  to  the  Christ-spirit,  which  says  "  I  lay  down 
my  life  for  the  sheep/1 

Modern  critical  study  of  races,  and  nations,  and 
social  movements,  in  the  new  science  of  sociology, 
both  static  and  dynamic,  justifies  the  intuitive  hope 
and  sustains  the  faith  of  the  soul,  that  the  Kingdom  Of 
God  in  the  earth  is  the  disclosing  reality  of  social 
evolution,  for  which  all  else  is  mere  scaffolding. 

2.— The  Divine  Immanence. 


The  second  term  in  our  subject  is  "  The  Divine 
Immanence.1'  In  defining  the  divine,  words,  indeed, 
do  but  half  reveal  and  half  conceal  the  truth  we  feel. 
We  have  revelations  of  the  soul,  but  when  we  seek 
words  of  the  intellect  to  express  what  we  mean,  we 
falter.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  ancient  Jews  lost  the 
pronunciation  of  their  word  for  the  deity. 

We  are,  I  think,  without  an  adequate  term  to  express 
the  conception  of  God  that  is  coming  to  us.  All 
theology  has  abandoned,  if  not  in  words,  then  surely 
in  the  inner  spiritual  life,  the  older  and  more  extreme 
statement  of  a  transcendent  deity.  Before  the  trans- 
cendent deity  of  Judaism,  the  Eastern  religions  had  an 
immanent  deity  in  pantheism.  But  we  can  never 
mean  by  immanence  what  they  mean  by  pantheism. 

I  must  confess  that  the  phrase  "  divine  imman- 
ence '  suggests  to  me  pantheistic,  interpre- 
tions  of  God.  And  we  know  that  all  such  interpreta- 
tations  pushed  to  the  extreme  in  personal  experience, 
even  as  exhibited  in  the  experience  of  some  of  the 
saints,  are  the  negation  of  the  supreme  Christian  pur- 


THE    KINGDOM    OF    GOD    AND    SOCIALISM.  3 

pose  as  already  suggested  in  our  definition  of  the  social 
evolution.  The  word  "  immanence  "  is  not  sufficiently 
dynamic  for  our  more  recent  views  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  in  the  earth.  We  are  without  a  word  in  philos- 
ophy or  theology,  and  fall  back  on  the  word  of  Jesus, 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  I  rather  wish  that  our  subject 
had  been  "  The  Kingdom  of  God  and  Social  Evolu- 
tion." No  phrase  so  comprehends  the  personal  and  the 
social,  the  spiritual  and  the  economic  significance  of 
life  in  one  word,  as  does  the  word  of  Jesus.  In  this 
paper  I  shall  define  briefly  what  I  feel  to  be  the  Divine 
Reality  which  is  not  completely  realised  in  intellect  by 
any  single  word — either  by  the  philosophical  opposites, 
transcendence  and  immanence,  or  by  the  mystical 
word  Presence,  which  I  shall  frequently  use. 

3.— The  Older  Teachjgig. 

Theology  for  many  a  long  century  has  been  heavily 
laden  by  its  inheritance  from  Judaism,  so  far  as  the 
conception  of  God  is  concerned.  In  order  to  declare 
the  holiness  and  righteousness  of  God,  and  to  show 
how  transcendently  beyond  the  average  human  life, 
and  the  prevailing  conditions  of  human  society,  were 
the  ways  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  the  Hebrew  mind  placed 
God  completely  out  of  his  world.  God  was  a  mighty 
Monarch,  ruling  a  distant  rebellious  province,  but 
making  occasional  visitations  against  the  unjust  and 
impious,  and  coming  at  intervals  to  reveal  himself  in 
power  on  behalf  of  the  faithful  and  devout.  The  truth 
behind  this  conception,  however  faulty  the  theological 
statement,  can  never  be  forfeited  without  incalculable 
loss  to  the  spiritual  life. 

4.— The  Modern  Perception. 

But  whether  it  has  been  the  influence  of  our  philos- 
ophical criticism  and  scientific  investigation  of  the  last 


4  THE    KINGDOM    OF    GOD    AND    SOCIALISM. 

century,  starting  from  and  returning  to  the  perception 
of  universality  and  unity  ;  or  whether  it  has  been  a 
truer  interpretation  of  the  meaning  of  the  words  of 
Jesus,  and  a  deeper  realisation  of  his  spirit,  It  has  ROW 
fallen  to  us  modern  men  in  a  special  manner  to  per- 
ceive intellectually,  and  to  seek  to  realise  in  our  spiritual 
consciousness  more  fully  the  actual,  ever-abiding,  un- 
escapable  Presence  of  the  Eternal  Intelligence  and 
Love,  as  the  only  Life  and  Power  and  Reality  of  all  that 
is— whether  in  Nature,  or  History,  or  the  Individual 
Soul. 

To  be  at  all  we  are  compelled  to  have  our  being  in 
the  Father.  In  Him  we  have  our  being.  In  Him  we 
have  our  life.  In  Him  we  move.  More  clear  con- 
ception of  this  Truth,  and  more  conscious  realisation  of 
this  Reality,  and  more  perfect  definition  of  it  in  the 
transparent  words  of  intellect,  and  more  practical 
expression  of  it  in  our  social  and  economic  life,  will  be, 
no  doubt,  the  supreme  programme  of  religious  thought 
and  practice  in  the  century  upon  which  we  have 
entered.  In  the  language  of  the  Master  of  Baliiol,  in 
those  wonderful  Gifford  lectures,  such  a  religion  must 
"  unite  the  immanence  of  pantheism  with  the  trans- 
cendence of  monotheism  "  ;  it  must  "  rise  to  a  divine 
principle  of  all  things,  and  yet  be  able  to  conceive  that 
principle  as  the  living  God,  the  inspiring  source  and 
eternal  realisation  of  the  moral  ideal  of  man  .  .  „ 
such  a  religion  must  see  God  at  once  without  and 
within  us,  yet  it  must  be  able  to  discriminate  between 
the  higher  sense  in  which  He  is  within  and  not  without. 
It  must  see  God  in  nature,  without  losing  Him  in 
nature's  manifoldness  ;  and  in  history  without  making 
outward  success  the  criterion  of  his  favour.  It  must 
find  a  still  higher  revelation  of  Him  in  the  protest  of 
the  conscience  against  the  fact  of  successful  injustice, 
and  a  demand  of  the  heart  for  a  more  perfect  state  than 
has  ever  been  empirically  realised  in  earth  ;  yet  it 
must  not  set  that  which  ought  to  be  absolutely  against 


THE    KINGDOM    OF    GOD    AND    SOCIALISM.  5 

that  which  is,  or  suppose  that  the  Judgment  of  God  is 
a  future  Judgment,  which  is  not  executing  itself  now 
and  here." 

5.— The  Moral  Depths  Involved. 

What  this  Divine  Presence  means  I  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  treat  later  when  I  come  to  discuss  the  personal 
experience  of  Jesus,  and  we  shall  leave  the  definition 
now  as  given  ;  suffice  it  to  say  that  our  consideration  of 
the  Divine  Presence  in  all  its  new  setting  and  bearings 
is  not  a  mere  question  of  theological  hair-splitting,  and 
far  from  a  petty  attack  on  any  old  theology.  It  is 
blood-red  with  vital  significance  for  us.  It  is  our 
search  for  a  closer  walk  with  God,  and  for  a  diviner 
service  to  our  brother-men.  It  is  a  muscular  endeavour 
of  the  mind  to  state  in  faithful  terms  of  our  intelli- 
gence the  revelations  and  intuitions  of  the  soul  from 
the  living  God  of  the  present.  Our  theme  is  not 
abstract  and  theoretical,  but  living,  concrete, 
practical. 

Moreover,  our  consideration  of  the  relation  of  the 
Divine  Presence  to  social  evolution,  is  not  a  mere 
discussion  for  the  doctrinaire  or  the  intellectual 
gymnast.  Western  civilisation  is  in  the  midst  of  social 
sorrows,  economic  injustice,  and  industrial  oppression 
which  cry  to  heaven  for  redress,  and  we  must  square 
our  religious  teaching  and  practice  with  the  Truth  that 
makes  men  free — with  the  manifest  call  of  God  to  our 
generation.  We  need  our  working  clothes  on  to  ask 
the  theme,  and  our  militant  armour  on  to  follow  it  to 
its  logical  conclusion. 


II. 
THE  REDEMPTION  OF  NATURE. 

In  the  light  of  the  Divine  Immanence  we  state  more 
emphatically,  if  possible,  than  the  Jewish  prophets  that 


6  THE    KINGDOM    OF    GOD    AND    SOCIALISM. 

"  the  earth  is  the  Lord's  and  the  fulness  thereof." 
To  define  the  exact  relation  of  the  Divine  Omnipre- 
sence and  Substance  to  the  creation,  and  especially 
to  the  land  of  this  earth,  and  to  the  forces  of  nature 
which  we  utilise — such  definition  may  be  beyond  our 
present  intelligence.  But  we  may  say  with  Paul  that 
the  very  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain 
waiting  for  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God. 
And  as  the  illumined  sons  of  Truth  and  Love  appear 
it  will  become  more  and  more  fully  acknowledged  and 
axiomatic  that  the  physical  resources  of  the  earth,  and 
the  forces  of  nature  in  which  the  earth  is  enveloped, 
are  the  veritable  presence  of  the  living  God  for  the 
satisfaction  and  freedom  of  man. 


1. — The  Land  for  the  People. 

The  earth  and  her  enveloping  and  permeating  Force 
constitute  the  living  fountain,  and  the  eternal  cup- 
board, and  the  divine  storehouse  of  every  physical  and 
material  gift  for  the  perfect  satisfaction  of  every 
physical  need  of  the  children  of  men.  And  let  us  not  be 
interpreted  as  speaking  poetically,  but  in  the  plain 
terms  of  a  righteous  social  economy.  The  land  of  the 
earth  was  given  by  the  Father  for  the  use  and  delight 
of  all  men — not  for  the  few,  who,  by  any  means,  legal 
or  illegal,  may  secure  private  possession  thereof  for 
their  private  profit.  The  Divine  Presence  did  not 
store  the  cellars  of  the  earth  full  of  coal  and  oil  and  iron 
in  order  that  when  opened  in  the  20th  century,  coal 
barons,  and  steel  magnates,  and  oil  billionaires  should 
control  these  treasure-vaults  of  the  earth,  enslaving  the 
children  of  men  in  the  mines,  and  then  bleeding  the 
nation  by  monopoly  sale  of  these  gifts  of  God  in  nature. 
The  fertility  of  the  soil,  the  descent  of  rain,  the  titanic 
powers  of  steam  and  electricity,  the  tremendous  power 
of  machinery — all  such  are  the  gifts  of  the  Father  of  us 
all,  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  needs  of  all  His  children. 


THE    KINGDOM    OF    GOD    AND    SOCIALISM.  7 

These  are  not  mere  baubles  and  playthings  to  amuse 
and  delight  the  profit-monger  in  the  satisfaction  of  his 
greed  or  ambition. 

2. — The  Earth  is  our  Mother. 


It  has  been  said  that  the  earth  is  our  mother — 
changing  the  figure.  If  so,  the  hour  has  struck  in  the 
history  of  man's  life  on  the  bosom  of  the  earth  to  end 
the  monopoly  by  the  few — whether  by  kings  in  the 
Congo,  or  millionaires  at  home — of  the  abundant 
nourishment  of  the  earth.  The  time  has  come  to 
restore  the  breasts  of  the  mother  to  the  children.  For 
they  cry  bitterly  in  the  night  of  our  social  and  econo- 
mic ignorance  ;  and  they  wither  and  die  for  the  milk 
flowing  from  the  mother-breasts  of  the  earth — that 
abundant  supply — now  controlled  by  the  few  for  their 
private  profit. 

If  the  Divine  Immanence  is  perceived  as  Life  and 
Truth  and  Reality,  rather  than  as  a  mere  theological 
doctrine  of  a  new  ecclesia,  held  as  a  vague  abstract 
pantheism,  or  a  poetic  view  of  nature,  then  we  shall  be 
able  to  teach  and  to  put  into  our  economic  structure 
the  political  economy  of  Jesus  as  given  in  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount. 

3.    The  Socialism  of  Jesus. 

The  Word  of  Jesus  is  "  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and 
Mammon. "  Now,  the  service  of  God  is  only  possible 
by  the  service  of  our  brother  men,  in  justice  and  fellow- 
ship. No  temple  worship  of  any  kind  or  degree  can  be 
substituted.  It  is  absurd  and  superstitious  to  say  we 
love  God,  whom  we  have  not  seen,  if  we  do  not  free  and 
make  the  possibilities  of  life  complete  for  our  brothers 
whom  we  have  seen.  Such,  at  least,  is  the  service  of 
God.  On  the  other  hand,  the  very  root  and  fostering 
condition  of  mammonism  is  the  utilisation  of  the  gifts 


8  THE    KINGDOM    OF    GOD    AND    SOCIALISM. 

and  forces  of  nature  for  private  profit  rather  than  for 
the  social  good.  To  this  bear  witness  Moses,  and  the 
prophets,  and  Jesus. 

And  Jesus  proceeds :  "  Doth  not  the  heavenly 
Father  feed  the  birds  of  the  air  ?  Doth  He  not  nourish 
and  beautify  the  lilies  of  the  field  by  His  very  Life 
and  Power  in  soil  and  sunshine  ?  Shall  he  not  much 
more  clothe  and  feed  you,  O,  ye  of  little  faith  ?  Is 
not  infinite  provision  made  for  your  every  necessity, 
and  your  every  comfort  ?  "  But  how  ?  By  some 
miracle  ?  Nay.  By  the  higgle  of  the  market,  by  the 
strife  of  competition,  by  the  individualistic  struggle  of 
•each  against  all  for  the  control  of  land  and  machine  and 
product  and  profit  ?  Nay,  verily  !  How  then  ?  By 
making  it  our  first  business,  by  seeking  first,  to  establish 
with  each  other  in  our  relations  and  economic  activities 
social  justice  and  equality  of  opportunity  and  co- 
operative use  of  industrial  equipment 

Such  I  believe  to  be  the  exact  modern  equivalent 
in  bread  and  butter  issues  of  Jesus'  words :  "  Seek  first 
the  Kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness  and  all 
things  shall  be  added  unto  you/'  Then  shall  life  be 
indeed  more  than  meat,  and  the  body  than  raiment. 
It  is  little  else  now,  and  scarcely  that,  for  millions  in 
the  intense  competition  for  bread  and  labour. 


4.— The  New  Social  Order. 

The  Divine  Immanence  sheds  abundant  light  upon 
the  truth  that  the  earth  and  the  fulness  thereof  is  the 
Lord's  common  gift  to  all  men.  To  monopolise  these 
gifts  for  private  gain  is  the  very  soul  of  mammonism. 
It  is  an  undivine  use  of  nature. 

From  henceforth  if  we  would  serve  the  living  God 
it  is  of  supreme  importance  that  whistles  blow,  and 
wheels  turn,  and  that  material  goods  be  produced  and 
distributed  under  the  auspices  of  the  prayer  that  says, 


THE    KINGDOM    OF    GOD    AND    SOCIALISM.  9 

"  Give  us  (not  me)  our  daily  bread/*  and  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus,  that  we  cannot  serve  Mammon  and 
God. 

The  logical  outcome  of  the  Divine  Immanence  is 
this  :  The  socialisation  and  democratic  management  of 
the  basic  natural  and  mechanical  equipment  of  industry, 
as  the  Divine  Presence  for  the  Life  and  Labour  of  all 
the  People.  This  will  be,  indeed,  the  communion  of  the 
Holy  Spirit — the  whole  spirit — now  so  broken  by  our 
divisive  private  interests.  And  the  sacrament  of  this 
communion  will  be  the  now  despised  labour  power  of 
man — the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  common  man.  It 
will  be  sacred  once  more  in  human  history.  This  is, 
as  you  observe,  the  economic  programme  of  Socialism  : 
The  Socialisation  of  the  means  of  Production,  Distri- 
bution, and  Exchange,  to  be  controlled  by  a  Democratic 
State  in  the  interests  of  the  entire  community,  and  the 
complete  Emancipation  of  Labour  from  the  Domina- 
tion of  Capitalism  and  Landlordism,  with  the  establish- 
ment of  Social  and  Economic  Equality  between  the 
sexes. 


HI. 
THE  REDEMPTION  OF  HISTORY. 

Again,  in  the  light  of  the  Divine  Immanence  a  new 
glory  is  shed  upon  the  historical  struggle  of  man  for  his 
freedom.  The  historical  process  is  no  longer  a  chaos 
of  events,  the  picturesque  procession  of  emperors, 
and  czars,  and  princes,  and  dignitaries.  It  is  the 
exfoliation  of  God  in  the  people.  As  there  is  a  red 
strand  in  all  the  cordage  of  the  British  navy,  SO  the 
red  strand  in  the  whole  course  of  human  events  is  the 
disclosure  and  release  of  a  free  and  divine  humanity. 


10  THE    KINGDOM    OF    GOD    AND    SOCIALISM. 

God  is  in  the  people.  History  is  of  one  piece.  There  is 
no  secular  history.  It  is  all  sacred.  Humanity  is  one 
body.  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  much  as  it  may 
run  against  our  social  or  ecclesiastical  vanity.  And 
thus  the  so-called  secular  struggle  of  slaves  in  Egypt, 
or  under  Spartacus,  or  of  the  German  peasants,  or  of 
the  modern  trades  unionists  for  a  more  complete  basis 
of  physical  existence,  is  covered  with  the  Glory  of  God. 


1.— The  Freedom  of  the  People  First. 

The  one  sacred  thing  beneath  the  stars  is  a  human 
being.  That  alone  is  sacred  which  makes  man  free  to 
live  out  a  complete  human  life.  The  historical  struggles 
for  religious,  and  intellectual,  and  political  freedom, 
and  now  for  industrial  emancipation,  are  the  very 
birth-pangs  of  the  coming  of  the  divine  in  human 
society.  Freedom  is  the  only  atmosphere  in  which 
the  soul  of  man  as  the  divine  incarnation  can  breathe. 
The  struggle  of  man  in  history  for  freedom  is  the 
struggle  of  God  for  freedom.  This  is  loose  and  inexact 
phrasing  I  admit.  But  I  seek  to  convey  the  thought 
that  the  perception  of  Freedom  in  the  Soul  of  Man  is 
his  highest  revelation  Of  God.  Our  highest  per- 
ceptions of  moral  and  social  relations  in  Freedom  and 
Justice  and  Brotherhood,  as  achieved  in  history,  and 
still  to  be  demonstrated,  are  not  dreams  and  vagaries, 
but  are  our  open  revelation  of  the  Divine  Reality. 

This  is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  which  is  ever  at 
hand.  This  is  the  Divine  Immanence  redeeming  history 
from  fatalism  and  pessimism,  arid  giving  us  a  ground 
for  the  most  heroic  and  abandoned  and  devoted  ser- 
vice to  the  highest  freedom  and  welfare  of  all  the  people 
here  and  now  in  this  present  world.  It  will  mean  the 
reconstruction  of  social,  political,  and  industrial  insti- 
tutions, in  order  that  each  and  all  may  have  the  most 
complete  advantage,  opportunity,  and  equipment  of 


THE    KINGDOM    OF    GOD    AND    SOCIALISM.  II 

living  a  free  human  life.  It  is  not  Our  first  business  to 
convert  souls  to  our  particular  theology,  or  religion, 
or  idea  of  personal  piety  or  salvation.  It  is  not  our 
business  to  build  up  a  church  ;  it  is  the  business  of  the 
church  to  build  a  free  world.  Our  first  business  is  the 
matter-of-fact,  apparently  secular,  social  task  of  making 
each  man,  woman,  and  child  free  to  live  his  or  her  own 
life,  and  then  perchance  they  shall  teach  us  truth,  and 
salvation,  and  theology  of  which  we  do  not  yet  dream. 
Freedom  first !  Freedom  first !  We  need  not  sigh  for 
heaven  in  some  distant  realm  with  such  a  divine  reality 
as  Freedom  present  to  us  in  the  historical  process.  If 
this  world  is  a  "  vale  of  tears,"  it  is  our  business  not  to 
desert  it  for  fairer  worlds  on  high,  but  to  wipe  away  all 
tears  from  human  eyes,  by  wiping  away  the  social  and 
economic  conditions  which  blight  and  baffle  and  bruise 
the  bodies  and  minds  and  souls  of  men. 

Henry  Drummond  suggested  that  perhaps  the 
evolutionary  process  was  devised  by  the  Divine 
Intelligence  in  order  that  on  its  discovery  by  us  we 
should  also  discover  that  indeed  we  were  the  builders 
and  social  creators  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the 
Earth.  The  raw  material  is  presented  for  our  work- 
manship, not  to  gamble  with. 

2.— The  Sacred  Cause  of  Labour. 

In  the  light  of  the  Divine  Presence  labour  statistics 
the  productive  power  of  machinery,  truths  on  the 
housing  problem,  the  cost  of  making  shoes  or  hats,  the 
process  of  sterilising  milk,  the  meaning  of  land  values, 
the  care  of  mothers,  the  nourishment  of  the  school-child 
— all  these  matter-of-fact  and  raw  subjects,  together 
with  what  they  suggest  of  speeches,  propaganda, 
ballotting,  and  parliamentary  action — all  take  on 
a  divine  significance.  The  social  struggle  Of  the 
people  for  freedom  is  the  historic  revelation  of  the 
Christ. 


12  THE    KINGDOM    OF   GOD    AND    SOCIALISM. 

It  may  be  that  as  the  Father  honoured  the  fields 
and  roadsides  of  Palestine,  and  the  fish-smelling  boats 
of  Galilean  fishermen  with  a  glory  unapproachable 
1,900  years  ago,  while  the  magnificence  of  the  great 
temple,  the  grandeur  of  the  temple  service,  and  the 
show  of  the  broad  phylactery  were  ignored,  if  not 
condemned,  so  now  in  the  20th  century  the  most 
common-place  efforts  of  the  very  mud-sills  of  society 
to  achieve  industrial  and  social  emancipation  from  the 
crime  of  capitalism,  will  be  honoured  by  the  divine 
recognition,  while  the  Lord  of  Life  may  pass  by  our 
magnificent  religious  edifices,  and  our  stately  cere- 
monial, or  our  every  form  of  worship.  May  we  recog- 
nise the  Christ  as  He  approaches.  Not  only  in  such 
an  hour  as  ye  think  not,  but  in  such  a  manner  as  ye 
expect  not,  the  Son  of  Man  cometh. 

We  conclude  with  this  aphorism  :  History  is  the 
progressive  realisation  of  the  Immanent  Kingdom  of 
God,  and  the  struggle  of  the  people  for  Freedom  in  the 
common  life  is  the  most  open  vision  of  the  Presence  of 
God. 


IV. 

THE  REDEMPTION  OF  PERSONALITY. 

In  the  light  of  the  Divine  Immanence  we  have  the 
ground  and  spiritual  basis  for  the  most  exalted  type  of 
personality.  If  it  is  the  Truth  that  the  Father  is 
eternally  present  in  the  being  of  every  one  of  us, 
unescapably  present,  the  very  life  of  our  life,  and  the 
reality  of  our  existence,  the  light  of  all  our  seeing, 
awaiting  a  complete  recognition,  realisation,  and 
expression,  then,  indeed,  when  this  Truth  begins  to 
take  hold  of  the  deeps  of  consciousness,  we  may  expect 


THE    KINGDOM    OF   GOD    AND    SOCIALISM.  13 

to  see  the  release  of  the  most  God-anointed  personalities, 
and  eventually  a  spiritual  awakening  such  as  history 
has  never  known. 

When  Jesus  said,  "  I  and  my  Father  are  one," 
and  "he  that  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father,"  He 
was  revealing  not  only  what  God  is  but  what  man  is. 

1. — The  Personal  Experience  of  Jesus- 

The  Divine  Illumination  received  when  the  Holy 
Ghost  came  upon  Him  was  to  Him  a  revelation  that 
the  whole  universe  is  now  and  here  the  presence  of  the 
One  Eternal  Intelligence — which  He  called  the  Father. 
Whatever  were  the  guesses  of  ignorance,  or  the  limi- 
tations of  supposed  intelligence,  He  perceived  that 
there  was  no  other  Kingdom  anywhere  but  the  King- 
dom of  God,  that  there  never  had  been  nor  never  could 
be  any  other  Absolute  Reality  to  Nature,  or  History, 
or  to  the  Individual  Soul.  Since  there  was  no  Reality 
anywhere  except  the  One  Divine  Presence,  He  perceived 
that  there  was  really  nothing  else  for  Him  to  be  than  to 
be  that.  "  I  can  of  my  own  self  do  nothing. 
Of  my  own  self  I  am  nothing.  The  Father 
that  dwelleth  in  Me,  He  doeth  the  work."  And 
there  could,  therefore,  be  no  Reality  to  any  other 
human  being  except  the  same  presence.  The  King- 
dom of  God  was  the  All-ness  of  whatever  really  IS, 
and  this  Kingdom  was  manifested  as  one  with  His 
consciousness,  and  by  this  conscious  unity  Jesus 
became  Christed,  i.e.,  the  Christ. 

2.— The  Divinity  of  Humanity. 

At  this  hour  of  divine  vision  He  perceived  that  what 
He  was  all  men  were.  He  was  the  first-born  among 
many  brethren.  He  was  divine  ;  they  were  divine. 
He  was  the  Father  incarnate  ;  they  were  also.  His 
vision  and  illumination  under  the  power  of  the  Holy 


14  THE    KINGDOM    OF    GOD    AND    SOCIALISM. 

Spirit  was  not  particular,  that  is  for  Himself  alone  ; 
it  was  universal,  that  is,  for  all  men.  He  perceived 
that  the  Father  was  no  respecter  of  persons.  This 
was  the  summit  of  His  insight.  Jesus  was  no 
spiritual  aristocrat.  He  saw  the  democracy  of  the 
Divine  Being,  and  the  complete,  original,  enfranchise- 
ment of  every  human  being  in  the  heart  of  God.  Thus 
He  revealed  the  Truth.  By  the  Truth  we  mean  that 
which  is  utterly  universal.  The  Truth  cannot  be  private 
or  personal,  or  limited  to  particular  persons  or  times 
or  places.  The  doctrine  of  the  divinity  of  Christ  is 
true,  but  it  has  been  so  taught  in  other  ages  of  the  world 
as  to  prove  all  other  men  un-divine.  Jesus  did  not  so 
teach.  He  was  not  concerned  about  emphasising  His 
divinity,  but  in  disclosing  to  them  their  divinity.  This 
was  His  mission.  His  revelation  of  His  divinity,  His 
Oneness  with  the  Father,  in  Power,  Intelligence,  and 
Love,  was  to  Him  a  discovery  of  the  universal  signifi- 
cance of  every  human  life.  Jesus  did  not  consider 
Himself  as  a  privileged  personality,  as  one  having 
relationships  with  the  Father  from  which  others  were 
excluded.  God  was  the  Father  of  Jesus  in  no  sense 
other  than  in  the  sense  that  He  is  your  Father  and  my 
Father.  The  Father  could  be  no  more  to  Jesus  than 
He  is  for  you.  The  ultimate  significance  of  the  Life  of 
Jesus,  culminating  in  conscious  oneness  with  the 
Father,  is  the  ultimate  significance  of  our  life,  recover- 
ing us  from  the  limitation  of  ignorance,  and  restoring 
us  to  true  consciousness — divine  in  the  only  Reality 
that  there  is  :  The  Kingdom  of  God. 

Such  I  consider  to  be  the  meaning  of  the  Divine 
Presence  in  personality.  Here  we  have  concretely 
dramatised  in  the  Life  of  Jesus  the  quality  of  Life  con- 
sequent on  the  divine  anointing  which  reveals  the  con- 
sciousness as  actually  one  with  God.  Now,  such  an 
interpretation  of  the  significance  of  human  life  here 
and  now,  as  thus  dramatised  and  taught  by  Jesus, 
must  eventually  precipitate  three  tremendous  forces 


THE    KINGDOM    OF   GOD    AND    SOCIALISM.  15 

in  Social  Evolution.  Here  we  have  the  dynamic  of 
Social  Revolution — not  only  that  of  to-day — but  of 
centuries  to  come. 

I  shall  have  time  only  to  mention  these  three  and  to 
offer  slight  comment  on  each. 


3.— The  New  Type  of  Spiritual  Teacher  Appears. 

Such  a  perception  is  a  call  to  us  to  duplicate  in  our 
conscious  religious  experience  the  divine  anointing  of 
the  Spirit  which  was  the  supreme  initiatory  fact  in  the 
life  of  Jesus.  We  are  called  to  be  anointed  ones, 
Christed  ones  to  our  generation.  We  are  to  be  saved 
only  as  we  are  saviours.  We  are  to  lay  down  our  lives 
for  the  sheep,  in  the  great  needs  of  humanity  of  our 
day.  Our  mission  is  identical  with  the  mission  of 
Jesus.  There  is  not  one  quality  of  life  for  the  master 
and  another  quality  of  life  for  the  disciple.  "  He  that 
said  he  abideth  in  Him,  ought  to  walk  even  as  He 
walked."  Jesus  said,  "  They  are  not  of  the  world  even 
as  I  am  not  of  the  world/'  "  And  as  the  Father  sent  Me 
even  so  send  I  you." 

Nor  is  there  one  quality  or  condition  of  Salvation  or 
unison  with  God  for  the  Master  and  another  condition 
for  us.  Truth  is  universal.  We  are  to  be  Messianic 
to  our  times,  witnessing  to  the  Messianic  Vision  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God,  in  the  earth,  filled  with  the  Messianic 
power  of  the  Spirit,  and  disclosing  to  those  who.  see 
not  the  Messianic  consciousness. 

Thus  we  shall  see  the  release  of  Christed  personalities 
or  a  new  type  into  the  present  surging  current  of 
modern  society.  They  will  be  inspired  re-announcers 
of  Truth.  They  will  be  apostles  of  freedom  for  the 
people.  They  will  be  the  heralds  of  a  new  social  order. 
They  will  lay  down  their  lives  for  the  sheep.  They  will 
count  the  cost  and  face  whatever  cross  civilisation  will 


l6  THE    KINGDOM    OF    GOD    AND    SOCIALISM. 

crucify  them  upon.  It  is  true  that  they  will  come  with 
a  new  theology,  but  they  will  come  primarily  with  a 
new  quality  of  spiritual  life,  and  a  new  social  vision. 
And  no  matter  to  what  extent  we  recognise  the  tre- 
mendous significance  of  titanic  economic  forces  and 
mass  movements  in  the  re-making  of  the  world,  the 
message  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  as  taught  by  Jesus, 
gives  a  peculiar  place  of  power  and  social  potency  to 
anointed  empowered  human  souls.  "  Ye  are  the  light 
of  the  world.  Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth." 

And  the  condition  of  this  Christing  of  personality 
is  exceedingly  simple,  and  has  held  the  same  through- 
out the  centuries,  identical  in  every  revival  of  religion, 
irrespective  of  the  changes  of  theology,  viz.,  an  entire 
consecration,  or  dedication  of  the  whole  being,  body, 
soul,  and  spirit,  to  be  the  organ  or  instrument  of  the 
Divine,  of  the  Universal,  of  the  Father  in  selfless  ser- 
vice of  humanity.  The  depth  of  that  devotion,  and  the 
form  of  the  service,  change  with  the  onward  movement 
of  the  kingdom,  but  the  conditions  are  simple  and 
complete,  and  easily  apprehended  by  the  simplest  soul, 
and  place  the  emphasis  in  all  the  relations  of  the  soul 
where  Jesus  placed  it — that  is,  primarily  in  the  Will, 
and  secondarily  and  quite  subordinately  in  the  Intel- 
lect. If  we  will  the  good-will  of  the  Father,  we  shall 
know  the  doctrine,  and  we  shall  become  the  attorneys 
for  humanity. 

4. — The  Great  Social  Revival  at  Hand. 

Such  a  divine  enduement  of  persons  here  and  there 
will  eventually  precipitate  a  great  spiritual  awakening. 
I  look  for  the  Religious  Revival  greater,  deeper,  saner, 
more  wholesome,  but  none  the  less  more  intense,  and 
irresistible  than  any  in  human  history.  This  revival  will 
call  forth  the  moral  and  spiritual  energies  of  the  people    . 
and  concentrate  that  power  on  the  labour  of  recon-  ' 
structing  our  social  and  economic  system  according  to 


THE    KINGDOM    OF    GOD    AND    SOCIALISM.  ij 

the  programme  of  brotherhood  and  social  justice.  This 
has  never  been  attempted  since  the  days  of  the 
apostles.  Piety,  religious  emotion,  and  moral  feeling, 
have  been  concentrated  on  the  individual,  and  about 
the  individual,  to  the  neglect  of  the  social  body.  Not 
a  less  quality  of  divine  life  in  the  soul  do  we  plead  for, 
but  a  far  greater.  And  for  the  energy  of  these  inspired 
hearts  to  be  put  forth,  not  in  following  the  Capitalistic 
war,  and  aiding  the  beaten  and  wounded,  but  in  stop- 
ping that  war,  and  preventing  this  wholesale  bruising 
of  their  fellows.  Our  present  type  of  conversion  to 
Christ  is  perfectly  at  peace  with  the  supreme  anti-Christ 
of  our  times,  the  Capitalistic  system.  The  converts  are 
enlightened  about  private  vices  and  private  virtues, 
but  they  have  never  heard  of  the  public  and  social  sins 
that  are  devouring  the  people.  The  sheep  are  being 
devoured,  but  the  shepherds  have  not  even  seen  the 
wolf.  Therefore  I  say,  a  new  Christian  apostolate 
shall  appear,  heralding  the  Kingdom,  and  there  shall 
appear  a  new  type  of  convert — a  convert  with  a  social 
vision,  a  social  prayer,  and  clothed  with  the  power  of 
God  to  abolish  Capitalism  and  establish  the  Co-operative 
Commonwealth. 


5.— The  Real  Test  of  Devotion. 

This  perception  of  the  Divine  Presence  in  all  men  will 
cover  with  halo  as  nothing  else  can  do  all  the  people 
about  us,  who  are  now  by  class  forms,  and  education, 
and  the  curse  of  poverty,  and  the  bitterness  of  Capi- 
talism, practically  outcasts,  socially  ostracised,  and 
looked  down  upon.  They  are  the  presence  of  the 
Father,  now — not  after  they  are  converted  to  any  reli- 
gion, or  after  they  have  joined  any  religious  body- 
but  now.  Our  burdened  brothers,  our  tired  and 
baffled  sisters,  our  tens  of  thousands  of  little  children, 
blighted  in  the  Capitalist  struggle,  are  now  the  Christ- 


1 8  THE    KINGDOM    OF    GOD    AND    SOCIALISM. 

presence,  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  the  least 
of  one  of  these  ye  have  done  it  unto  Me/'  said  the 
Master.  Our  social  and  industrial  treatment  of  men  is 
the  measure  of  our  real  devotion  to  the  Christ.  Any 
praise-singing,  and  creed-repeating,  and  Sunday- 
worshipping  standard  of  our  devotion  to  Christ  must  be 
judged  by  the  Judgment  Jesus  Himself  offers.  What- 
ever man  is  reckoned  to  be  in  the  market-place  and  in 
the  factory,  for  the  six  days  of  the  week,  that  is  the 
mark  of  our  real  devotion  to  Christ. 

The  Perception  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  as  the  only 
Reality  of  Life,  and  its  disclosure  in  personal  experi- 
ence and  in  social  and  economic  relation  as  our 
supreme  Christian  purpose — will  mean  to  our  age  a 
devotion  to  the  welfare  of  all  the  people,  as  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Father.  This  devotion  will  break  forth 
in  a  great  spiritual  awakening  and  Social  Revival. 
This  Revival  will  exhibit  itself  first  in  personality— 
divinely  anointed  sons  of  God,  whose  only  mission  is 
the  Father's  Kingdom,  and,  second,  in  the  Redemption 
of  Nature — from  the  God  of  Mammon.  The  Social 
Programme  will  be  the  Socialisation  of  the  natural 
resources  and  productive  equipment  of  society,  for  the 
use  and  happiness  and  freedom  of  the  people.  This 
is  the  next  great  step  to  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the 
Earth. 


6.— The  Mission  of  Jesus. 

Thus  again,  a  glad  message  will  be  given  to  the  poor 
people.  The  broken-spirited  will  be  healed ;  deliver- 
ance will  be  preached  to  and  realised  by  our  social 
captives ;  social  and  economic  intelligence  will  dis- 
place our  blindness  ;  and  we  shall  set  at  liberty  the 
people  that  are  bruised. 


The  Message  of  Jesus  to  Our  Times. 


I. 

A  SUMMARY. 

i. — The  ultimate  meaning  of  History  is  the  coming 
of  a  state  of  Justice,  Brotherhood,  and  Comradeship, 
which  Jesus  called  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  upon  the 
Earth. 

2. — The  present  Capitalist  System  is  the  Anti- 
Christ  of  our  times — the  social,  political,  and  economic 
negation  and  antithesis  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
Capitalism  is  Mammonism. 

3. — The  inevitable  necessity  forced  by  Capitalism 
upon  the  person  to  seek  his  private  property  ends  in 
the  cruel  and  unnecessary  struggle  of  competition, 
crucifies  the  Christ-spirit,  stifles  the  love-life  of  the 
soul,  and  tends  to  make  all  religion  pharasaic,  and 
less  than  the  Truth  and  Love  that  make  men  free. 

II. 

i — Capitalism  stands  impeached  as  a  system  of 
legalised  exploitation  and  plunder  of  the  people,  in- 
carnating the  Cain-spirit,  though  for  a  time  still 
defended  by  many  who  historically  bear  the  name  of 
Christ. 

2. — Capitalism  denies  the  first  fundamental  right 
of  human  existence — that  is,  Equality  of  Opportunity 
in  the  use  of  the  basic  equipment  of  bread-getting — 
Economic  equality. 

3. — The  Socialisation  of  the  fundamental  Equipment 
of  Industry,  the  democratic  organization  and  manage- 
ment of  industry  for  the  sake  of  use,  instead  of 
private  ownership  for  private  profit,  is  the  economic 
form  to  which  the  Christ-spirit  leads. 


20  THE   MESSAGE    OF     JESUS     TO     OUR    TIMES 

III. 

i. — The  next  great  movement  ior  Human  Brother- 
hood and  Social  Righteousness  will  repudiate  a  Social 
System  that  uses  human  beings  as  mere  creatures  of 
private  profit,  absorbing  their  productive  power  to 
build  up  immeasurable  private  fortunes,  while  the 
workers  themselves  battle  for  bread  and  the  oppor- 
tunities of  labour. 

2. — We  are  to  see  to  it  that  the  limitless  resources 
of  Nature,  which  God  gave  to  the  people  in  usufruct, 
and  the  marvellous  Mechanical  Equipment  of  modern 
civilisation,  and  the  titanic  power  of  Industrial 
Organization,  shall  no  longer  be  controlled  by  the  few 
for  mere  private  gain,  but  that  these  powers  shall  be 
used  for  the  Life,  the  Labour,  and  the  Liberty  of  the 
whole  people.  This  is  Socialism. 

3. — If  the  church,  by  cowardly  silence  or  open 
defence,  continues  longer  to  support  and  bulwark  this 
unspeakably  unjust  and  unbrotherly  system,  with  its 
cruelties  and  antagonisms,  and  its  refined,  respectable 
and  legalised  plunder  of  the  people,  then  will  the 
church  be  adjudged  Anti-Christ  by  the  awakening 
Social  Conscience  and  Soul  of  the  People,  and  the 
Moral  and  Spiritual  treasures  of  the  race  will  find 
expression  and  conservation  in  other  forms. 

4. — From  the  present  time  on  in  our  Cities  and 
Nations,  statesmanship  must  no  longer  consist  in 
dramatic  plays  with  organized  plutocracy,  but  must 
be  a  use  of  the  Powers  of  Government  to  Socialize 
all  those  Industrial  Activities  necessary  to  make  men 
free  from  economic  dependence ;  and  to  make 
Monopoly  of  Industry  for  ever  impossible.  This  is 
Socialist  Administration. 

5. — What  the  People  Socially  need,  the  People 
must  Socially  own,  in  order  to  guarantee  private 
property  to  the  individual  in  the  product  of  his  toil. 
This  is  the  programme  for  the  Free  Individual 
through  Socially  achieved  Liberty. 

J.S.W. 


THE  MESSAGE  OF   SOCIALISM 
TO  THE  CHURCH. 

A  few  weeks  ago  I  was  grateful  to  receive 
an  invitation  from  the  secretary  of  this  Asso- 
ciation to  read  you  a  paper  on  the  "Message 
of  Socialism  to  the  Church." 

The  subject  is,  of  course,  too  large  for  any 
adequate  treatment  in  the  time  allotted.  I 
shall,  therefore,  narrow  my  theme  to  appro- 
priate limits,  and  even  then  I  shall  be  able  to 
give  you  but  a  suggestive  outline  upon  the 
subject. 

There  might  be  many  messages  of  Social- 
ism to  the  Church,  depending  much  on  the 
point  of  emphasis  in  the  mind  of  the  Socialist 
delivering  the  message,  and  varying,  perhaps, 
with  the  sect  to  which  the  message  was  given. 
One  might  insist  that  the  clergy  should  devote 
more  time  and  energy  to  changing  the  social 
environment  of  all  the  people,  and  less  to 
the  regeneration  of  the  individual.  Another 
might  accuse  the  church  of  being  in  complic- 
ity with  our  industrial  magnates,  whose  tyr- 
anny is  becoming  intolerable  to  the  Working 
Class.  Such  messengers  would  see  in  the 
church  the  greatest  bulwark  to  the  present 
industrial  wrongs,  and  in  the  clergy  a  sort  of 
spiritual  police  force  to  guard  in  the  name  of 


2  THE  MESSAGE  OF  SOCIALISM 

Christ  the  ill-gotten  gains  of  trusts  and  mo- 
nopolies. Some  might  declare  that  your  indi- 
vidualistic interpretation  of  the  ethics  of 
Christianity  gives  moral  sanction  to  the  social 
tragedies  of  our  day.  These  might  accuse 
you  of  straining  at  gnats  of  individual  error 
and  swallowing  camels  of  social  injustice; 
preaching,  for  example,  "Thou  shalt  not  steal" 
to  the  child  of  the  slum,  who  takes  a  hod  of 
coal  to  warm  his  dying  mother  in  the  rear 
tenement,  but  "standing  pat,"  as  they  say, 
with  Standard  Oil,  or  "Divine  Right"  Baer  of 
Coal  Trust  fame.  Others  might  attack  your 
theological  and  metaphysical  positions,  or  your 
interpretation  of  the  evolution  of  society,  as 
teachings  tending  to  bind  the  people  still  more 
inextricably  in  their  industrial  chains,  instead 
of  making  them  free. 

But  whatever  truth  there  might  be  in  such 
messages  I  leave  aside  upon  this  occasion.  I 
do  not  ask  you  to  cease  your  activities  to  ac- 
complish the  spiritual  regeneration  of  the  indi- 
vidual. I  do  not  ask  you  to  change  one  syl- 
lable of  your  theology.  I  do  not  ask  you  to 
forsake  your  churches,  your  creeds,  or  your 
Christ.  I  take  you  upon  your  own  grounds 
as  professed  disciples  of  Jesus  and  preachers 
of  his  message  to  the  world,  seeking  to  finish 
the  work  He  has  given  you  to  perform,  and  on 
this  ground  I  point  out  to  you  what  I  believe 


TO  THE  CHURCH* 


to  be  your  place  in  this  great  struggle. 
A  Personal  Word* 

Perhaps  you  will  pardon  a  personal  word 
just  here,  which  may  give  a  deeper  sig- 
nificance to  what  I  shall  say  unto  you. 
Whatever  differences  there  may  exist  in  the- 
ology or  ethical  theory,  or  modus  operand! 
between  myself  as  a  spiritual  teacher  and  this 
body,  I  wish  to  assure  you  that  I  am  consumed 
with  the  passion  which  inspires  you,  viz.,  the 
highest  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  human- 
ity. But  I  wish  to  tell  you  that  it  was  after 
one  of  the  greatest  spiritual  and  moral  crises 
in  my  life  that  I  became  an  aggressive  Social- 
ist. It  was  not  thru  a  limitation  but  by  an 
extension  of  moral  vision  and  thru  an  increased 
spiritual  anointing  that  the  economic  program 
of  Socialism  appeared  to  me  as  the  social  and 
industrial  expression  of  what  we  may  call  on 
this  occasion,  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the 
earth.  To  put  it  more  strongly:  There  came 
a  time  in  my  life  when  consent  to  live  at  peace 
with  the  present  social  order,  without  an  active 
and  intelligent  protest,  would  have  been  to  me 
moral  suicide  and  spiritual  eclipse;  and  the 
espousal  of  the  Socialist  cause  was  an  inlet- 
ting  to  a  new  world  of  spiritual  significance, 
which  becomes  increasingly  glorious  and 
emancipating. 


4  THE  MESSAGE  OF  SOCIALISM 

I  therefore  speak  to  you  as  one  devoted  to 
the  highest  immediate  spiritual  meaning  to 
the  individual  life,  on  the  one  hand ;  and  as  an 
avowed  Socialist,  working  with  and  for  the 
class-conscious  Socialist  Movement,  and  vot- 
ing for  our  candidates,  and  platforms.  I  may, 
therefore,  speak  to  you  with  the  utmost  frank- 
ness and  without  insinuation. 

The  Social  Mission  of  the  Church. 

Proceeding  now  to  the  message  itself.  Is 
Christianity  a  scheme  simply  to  prepare  man- 
kind for  another  world?  You  answer  me 
emphatically,  "No."  It  is  a  message  of  life 
and  of  power  to  perfect  the  race  here  and 
everywhere;  but  here  on  the  earth  at  least. 
Christianity  then  has  a  mission  concerning 
human  society.  I  ask  a  second  question. 
Is  this  mission  simply  a  reaction  resulting 
from  the  presence  of  spiritualized  characters 
in  the  world,  or  is  it  positive,  definite,  con- 
crete, specific?  Making  my  question  plainer: 
Take  three  social  problems,  (i)  Monarchical 
despotism;  (2)  the  liquor  traffic;  (3)  chattel 
slavery.  I  ask  you,  would  your  mission  as 
preachers  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth  be 
at  an  end  on  these  three  great  social  questions, 
when  you  had  converted  certain  thousands  of 
church  members  to  a  certain  inward  state  of 
mind  called  regeneration,  letting  that  state  of 


TO  THE  CHURCH. 


mind  react  on  these  social  problems,  and  leav- 
ing your  followers  uninstructed  as  to  the  con- 
crete social  program  that  would  logically  follow 
from  their  spiritual  life  and  philosophy,  or  do 
you  not  deem  it  the  business  of  the  Christian 
clergy  and  of  the  church,  also,  to  aggressively 
act  as  citizens  of  this  world,  using  the  polit- 
ical equipment  of  civilization  to  make  an  or- 
ganized and  definite  effort  in  social  programs? 
For  example :  to  establish  democracy  and  con- 
stitutional liberty  and  to  overthrow  despotism  ; 
or  to  effect  legislation  to  lessen  or  abolish  the 
liquor  traffic.  Or  do  you  not  think  that  it  is 
in  the  scope  of  your  mission,  if  chattel  slavery 
still  existed  in  America,  to  organize  aggres- 
sively or  to  work  with  existing  conditions, 
to  defend  chattel  slavery  from  overthrow,  if 
you  believe  it  an  institution  planted  of  God  for 
human  good,  or  else  to  organize  for  the  defi- 
nite concrete  purpose  of  abolishing  slavery  as 
a  curse  to  humanity. 

In  other  words,  must  not  the  Christian 
preacher  ever  reduce  the  principles  of  his 
faith  to  specific  form  on  one  side  or  the  other 
of  any  great  social  problem  before  the  civilized 
world  ?  Must  he  not  take  his  stand  as  a  citizen 
of  this  world,  using  the  pen  and  the  press,  the 
platform  and  the  pulpit  as  instruments;  and 
the  ballot,  the  popular  elections,  the  houses  of 
legislature,  and  the  acts  of  executives,  as 


6  THE  MESSAGE  OF  SOCIALISM 

agencies  to  bring  to  peaceful  and  successful 
issue  great  Social  Movements,  and  thus  to 
write  into  historical  documents  the  coming  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God  among  men.  Your  in- 
activity or  your  silence  will  be  interpreted  by 
oppressors  of  men  and  the  upholders  of  injus- 
tice as  God's  sanction  to  wrong. 

When  I  have  pointed  out  what  I  believe  to 
be  your  duty  in  this  respect,  we  should  waste 
no  time  in  contrasting  the  respective  merits  of 
these  two  phases  of  your  duty, — phases  which 
are  not  anthithetical  but  complementary,  each 
supplementing  and  fulfilling  the  other.  Let 
me  remind  you  that  I  do  not  ask  you  to  abate 
your  efforts  for  individual  regeneration,  nor  to 
modify  in  the  least  degree  your  interest  in 
souls.  I  simply  insist  that  if  you  are  spiritual- 
ized characters  yourselves,  and  if  your  church 
members  are  regenerated  individuals,  you  are 
none  the  less  citizens  of  this,  our  world,  and 
your  increased  moral  insight  and  Christian 
character  should  make  you  powerful  to  use  the 
agencies  of  civiliaztion,  and  the  legal  equip- 
ment of  civil  society,  for  the  triumph  of  great 
Social  Movements  that  make  for  the  happi- 
ness, freedom  and  upliftment  of  the  whole 
people. 

But  further.  As  the  professed  spokesmen 
of  Truth  and  Justice  and  Righteousness,  as  the 
expounders  of  the  oracles  of  God,  and  as  the 


TO  THE  CHURCH* 


apostles  of  the  gentle  Christ  who  died  for  men, 
I  charge  you  that  wherever  a  great  social 
wrong  exists,  which  hurts  and  harms  one  of 
these  little  ones,  which  beats  down  and  op- 
presses the  sons  of  men,  or  which  involves  us 
as  children  of  one  brotherhood  in  strifes  and 
antagonism,  and  needless  struggle,  or  which 
limits  the  freedom,  or  harries  the  lives  of  the 
people — I  charge  you,  as  preachers  of  the  King- 
dom of  God,  that  you  must  stand  like  men  for 
that  right,  that  emancipation,  or  whatever 
step,  or  practice,  or  system  shall  make  men 
free.  Aggressive,  positive,  constructive  action, 
vigorous  and  determined,  for  the  abolition 
of  social  wrongs  and  injustice,  is  the  demand 
upon  the  pulpit  today.  No  spineless,  spas- 
modic effort  will  suffice,  but  the  abandoned 
zeal  and  devotion  of  the  saint,  and  if  need  be 
of  the  martyr.  "As  the  Father  hath  sent  me 
into  the  world,  even  so  send  I  you,"  said  your 
Master,  and  He  adds,  "I  lay  down  my  life  for 
the  sheep/'  We  might  say  in  this  connection 
that  no  preacher,  no  church  member  who  is 
not  willing  to  lay  down  his  life,  if  need  be, 
for  the  cause  of  the  people  that  needs  assistance 
in  his  day  can  be  called  spiritualized,  regener- 
ated, or  Christian.  This  is  the  essence  of  the 
Christ  spirit,  the  very  heart  of  the  Christian 
conscience. 

But  perhaps  we  live  in  dull  and  uninspiring 


8  THE  MESSAGE  OF  SOCIALISM 

days.  If  we  only  lived  in  the  days  when 
primitive  Christians,  hunted  as  the  enemies  of 
civilization,  braced  the  brutalities  of  the 
Caesars,  then  would  we  count  not  our  lives 
dear  unto  ourselves.  Or  if  we  only  lived  in 
the  dark  hours  of  the  middle  ages,  when  men 
struggled  for  religious  liberty  against  priest- 
craft, then  would  we  face  the  fagot  and  the 
flame  for  the  right  of  men  to  worship  God 
according  to  the  dictates  of  conscionce.  Or  if, 
indeed,  we  lived  but  in  the  days  of  Sam 
Adams  and  Patrick  Henry,  how  gladly  would 
we  have  offered  our  lives  on  the  altar  of  lib- 
erty. Or  later  still,  a  half  century  ago,  de- 
votedly could  we  have  stood  over  the  hunted 
slave  and  against  his  master,  and  hearing  the 
cry  of  the  slave  woman  under  the  lash,  we 
would  have  borne  her  stripes. 

But  I  say  unto  you,  that  never  on  the  page 
of  history  has  there  been  such  a  cause  as  that 
which  is  now  upon  us  in  this  first  quarter  of 
the  twentieth  century.  Never  has  so  subtle  a 
tyranny  sought  to  establish  itself  over  the  lives 
and  bodies  and  souls  of  men  as  that  which 
grows  to  enormous  proportions  in  our  Ameri- 
can life  at  this  very  moment.  Never  has  there 
been  a  movement  so  fraught  with  possibilities 
of  freedom  and  happiness  and  justice  and 
brotherhood  as  the  present  Labor  Movement. 
I  do  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  no  crisis  in 


TO  THE  CHURCH. 


human  history  ever  held  so  much  in  the  bal- 
ance for  the  kingdom  of  God  and  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  world  as  the  crisis  thru  which  we 
are  now  passing.  No  problem  has  ever  so 
forced  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  race  to  the 
very  roots  of  right  relations  between  man  and 
man  as  this  Labor  Problem.  This  problem 
demands  of  the  clergy  and  the  church  whether 
the  ethics  of  your  Christianity  are  mere  Sunday 
pleasantries,  and  maxims  of  mere  personal 
satisfaction  and  safety,  or  tremendous,  far- 
reaching  social  principles  which  must  be  in- 
corporated into  the  very  basis  of  our  social 
and  economic  institutions,  or  else  become  a 
hissing  and  a  byword  among  the  flesh-owners, 
and  a  forgotten  dream  by  the  beaten  toilers  of 
the  world.  These  are  not  dull  and  uninspiring 
days,  but  great  days,  demanding  your  most 
heroic  service. 

The  Bread  Problem  Fundamental* 

Now  I  refuse  to  argue  with  you  as  to  the 
respective  merits  or  importance  of  the  spiritual 
interests  of  men  and  of  their  material  interests. 
I  can  grant  you,  if  you  please,  any  degree  of 
superiority  you  may  wish  to  give  to  the  spirit- 
ual over  the  material  interests.  And  then  I 
will  demand  your  consideration  of  the  material 
interests  that  are  still  absolutely  fundamental 
to  human  life.  I  will  grant  you  that  a  man's 


io  THE  MESSAGE  OF  SOCIALISM 

life  does  not  consist  in  the  abundance  of  things 
which  he  possesseth,  but  you  must  grant  me 
that  he  must  have  things,  nevertheless, — food, 
clothing,  shelter, — after  he  has  read  your  text 
to  its  utmost  meaning.  I  will  grant  you  that 
"man  cannot  live  by  bread  alone,"  but  you 
must  grant  me  that  he  cannot  live  without 
bread. 

Bread — and  all  that  is  signified  by  that 
wonderful  word  in  the  form  of  human  needs 
and  comforts — we  must  have.  But  our  bread 
does  not  fall  as  manna  from  heaven.  In  order 
to  get  that  bread  we  must  labor.  And  in  order 
to  labor  we  must  have  access  to  the  material 
resources  of  nature,  and  the  mechanical  equip- 
ment for  labor. 

This  struggle  of  men  today  for  Bread,  for 
Labor,  and  for  access  to  the  material  resources 
whence  that  bread  comes  and  to  which  that 
labor  is  applied — this  struggle  presents  us  with 
the  great  Labor  Problem,  which  rocks  civiliza- 
tion to  its  very  foundation.  From  this  strug- 
gle the  church  cannot  escape.  To  its  solution 
you  are  summoned. 

Now  Socialism  confronts  this  awful  struggle 
in  the  name  of  the  Working  Class.  And  I 
wish  to  hold  your  thought  clearly  to  this  one 
point,  that  Socialism  is  not  any  of  the  fifty 
things  ignorant  critics  make  it  out  to  be. 
Socialism  is  a  plain,  unmistakable  economic 


TO  THE  CHURCH*  11 

program  to  be  carried  out  by  the  Working 
Class  thru  political  action,  by  the  ballot-box 
and  legislative  enactment.  Socialism  presents 
an  organized  social  movement  and  a  social 
program  to  abolish  the  unnatural  elements  of 
this  struggle  and  make  men  forever  free  from 
the  tragedy  of  our  bread-getting. 

Capitalism  Condemned* 

The  battle  for  bread  today  is  known  in  the 
science  of  Economics  as  the  Competitive  Sys- 
tem, or  Capitalism.  Against  this  system,  So- 
cialism brings  its  criticism  and  condemnation. 
That  criticism  is  at  least  three-fold.  We  de- 
clare that  the  present  system  is  (i)  unjust  in 
its  basis,  (2)  inhuman  in  its  operation,  and 
(3)  tyrannous  in  its  inevitable  outcome.  We 
shall  consider  these  in  the  order  given. 

i.  Our  position  is  that  it  is  basically  unjust 
to  open  the  resources  and  equipment  of  the 
bread  and  labor  supply  of  the  people  as  the 
prize  in  the  financial  game  of  frenzied  finan- 
ciers. To  lay  the  whole  resources  of  a  people's 
livelihood  open  on  the  market  to  become  the 
private  property  without  limit  to  the  winners, 
not  only  in  a  moderate  business  competition, 
but  to  industrial  buccaneering  and  commercial 
brigandage, — to  thus  gamble  with  the  bread 
supply  and  the  chances  'to  labor,  ajid  the 
opportunities  of  life,  is  to  gamble  with  the 


12  THE  MESSAGE  OF  SOCIALISM 

very  souls  and  bodies  of  men. 

As  Socialists  we  ask  the  clergy  to  condemn 
the  present  basis  of  modern  industry  as  un- 
just and  inimical  to  the  highest  as  well  as  the 
most  immediate  material  interests  of  the  peo- 
ple. We  ask  you  to  stand  with  the  oppressed 
in  this  conflict  and  against  the  oppressor.  We 
demand  of  you,  as  professed  followers  of  your 
Master,  who  came  to  "set  at  liberty  them  that 
are  bruised,"  that  you  stand  against  a  system, 
which,  assuming  the  disguise  of  legitimate 
business,  in  the  language  of  Thos.  Lawson, 
"has  for  years  as  boldly,  as  coarsely  and  as 
cruelly  robbed  the  people  as  the  coolie  slaves 
are  robbed  by  their  masters." 

Our  criticism  is  that  ownership  by  private 
individuals  of  the  original  elements  and  indus- 
trial equipment  of  civilization,  and  the  opera- 
tion of  these  resources  for  private  profit,  is 
unjust  beyond  powers  of  description.  It  will 
yet  be  seen  in  the  light  of  intelligence  and  a 
truer  ethical  spirit  to  be  an  industrial  basis 
inevitably  producing  an  incalculable  and  un- 
ceasing robbery  from  the  producing  classes  of 
the  products  of  their  labor.  It  is  a  social 
basis  and  an  industrial  mechanism  that  inevi- 
tably wrings  uncounted  millions  from  the 
children  of  toil  and  pours  that  wealth  into  the 
lap  of  those  who  never  earned  it. 

Statistics  show  that  already  one  per  cent  of 


TO  THE  CHURCH.  13 

the  families  in  America  hold  more  of  the 
results  of  labor  than  the  remaining  99  per  cent. 
One  single  corporation,  according  to  one  of 
its  self-confessed  accomplices,  plundered  the 
people  of  over  one  hundred  millions  ($100,- 
000,000)  of  dollars  in  the  last  five  years ! 

Men  of  the  Christian  ministry,  your  Master 
said,  "Every  plant  that  my  Heavenly  Father 
hath  not  planted  shall  be  rooted  up."  Think 
you  that  a  plant  which  bears  such  fruit  is 
rooted  in  Justice  and  Righteousness?  Nay, 
verily.  We  Socialists  are  tugging  at  the  roots 
of  that  system  of  injustice  and  wrong.  The 
capitalistic  system  is  unjust  in  its  basis.  It 
stands  without  ethical  defense.  We  ask  you 
to  tug  at  the  roots  of  this  great  wrong  with  us, 
and  abolish  it. 

2.  Again,  the  Competitive  System  is  in- 
human and  unchristian  in  its  operation.  If  our 
eyes  are  blinded  by  the  sweat  of  the  "strenu- 
ous" life;  if  we  are  still  hypnotized  by  the 
modern  ideals  of  "success,"  that  bid  the  con- 
testants climb  to  victory  over  the  helpless 
victims  that  fall  in  the  mad  struggle ;  if  our 
hearts  are  callous  from  long  familiarity  with 
the  sights  and  sounds  of  the  beaten  and 
baffled  ones  that  strew  the  highways  of  mod- 
ern gread-getting ;  if  our  minds  are  more  re- 
sponsive to  the  Cain-spirit  of  the  competitive 
struggle,  that  ruthlessly  cries,  "Am  J  my 


14  THE  MESSAGE  OF  SOCIALISM 

brother's  keeper?"  than  to  the  mind  of  the 
Master  who  said,  "I  lay  down  my  life  for  the 
sheep," — and  if  any  of  these  are  our  dominant 
states  of  mind,  then  we  cannot  see  the  Socialist 
position  that  the  present  Capitalistic  System  is 
inhuman  in  its  operation. 

"By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them"  is  as 
true  of  social  and  economic  systems  as  it  is  of 
individuals.  You  cannot  gather  grapes  of 
thorns  or  figs  of  thistles.  Neither  can  you 
gather  love,  peace,  mercy,  tenderness,  broth- 
erly kindness, — in  short,  the  human  and 
Christ  virtues — from  the  operations  of  a  sys- 
tem that  in  its  very  basis  provides  for,  and  in 
its  practice  demands,  the  development  and 
fruition  of  the  very  opposite  passions  of  men. 

Place  the  land,  and  the  machinery,  and  all 
products  of  all  toil,  open  to  the  mad  gamble  of 
private  property  seekers  and  exploiters  of  men 
for  private  profit;  place  the  very  bodies  of 
men,  women  and  little  children  as  mere  mar- 
ketable commodities  to  be  hired  "whenever 
'and  wherever"  the  masters  of  the  market  shall 
dictate,  to  be  paid  "whatever  compensation" 
the  industrial  monarchs  shall  choose;  turn 
80,000,000  of  people  loose  in  that  struggle — 
a  struggle  from  which  there  is  no  exemption, 
a  struggle  imposed  by  nature  and  necessity, — 
give  us,  I  say,  that  kind  of  a  basis  for  our 
bread-getting,  and  inhumanity  and  cruelty  in 


TO  THE  CHURCH.  15 

that  struggle  is  inevitable. 

The  word  Competition  is  an  euphemism, 
It  is  a  mild  commercial  term  for  strife,  antag- 
onism, unbrotherliness ;  for  rivalry,  jealousy, 
and  hate.  The  Competitive  System,  operat- 
ing on  such  a  basis,  with  such  prizes,  is 
the  open  door  and  a  colossal  invitation  and 
temptation  to  fraud  and  to  dishonor;  to  the 
subtle  but  respectable  grand  larcenies  of  the 
market  masquerading  as  legitimate  enterprise ; 
to  the  now  almost  sacred  right  of  amassing 
fortunes  of  uncounted  millions  out  of  the  very 
blood  of  toiling  multitudes. 

The  Competitive  System  is  a  system  that 
bears  every  fruit  that  is  contrary  to  the  mind 
and  spirit  of  Jesus.  Your  Christ  could  not 
qualify  in  this  struggle.  His  strenuousness 
was  of  a  different  type.  His  conception  of 
success  would  invite  to  ignominious  failure  in 
this  system.  "Blessed  are  the  merciful,"  said 
He.  The  Competitive  System  knows  no 
mercy.  Wherever  Mercy  shows  her  fair 
white  brow  it  is  to  mitigate  or  ameliorate  the 
pain  and  tragedy  of  our  industrial  strife. 
And  if  you  point  us  to  the  lives  of  devoted 
Christians,  and  to  their  deeds  of  mercy  and 
love,  we  respond  that  this  is  in  defiance  of  the 
principles  of  the  System,  and  the  logic  of  such 
lives  and  such  deeds  must  be  to  cease  offering 
the  millions  of  lives,  which  flQ  individual 


16  THE  MESSAGE  OF  SOCIALISM 

mercy  can  reach,  to  this  merciless  dragon  of 
industry. 

We  Socialists,  then,  demand  of  the  disciples 
of  Jesus  that  you  attack  this  Capitalist  Sys- 
tem, so  cruelly  inhuman,  and  unchristian  in 
its  operation.  At  least  we  demand  of  you, 
that  if  you  refuse  to  struggle  with  us  against 
it,  never  to  use  the  name  of  Jesus  as  an  apology 
for  the  crimes  of  competitivism.  We  demand 
of  you,  that  the  oppressor  shall  not  deal  out 
to  the  Working  Class  a  double  curse  in  the 
exploitation  of  men,  by  carrying  the  profit- 
bag  in  one  hand,  and  the  Bible,  the  cross  and 
the  sacrament  in  the  other.  For  it  may  be  truly 
said  that  Capitalism  is  the  only  considerable 
anti-Christ  of  modern  times.  All  the  other 
great  forms  of  public  wrong  that  curse  and 
blight  us  are  either  fathered  or  mothered  or 
nourished  by  this  one  gigantic  anti-Christ — 
the  Competitive  System. 

Let  me  remind  you,  also,  that  the  members 
of  your  flocks  are  unescapably  involved  in 
this  inhuman  and  unchristian  strife.  Their 
individualistic  piety  grants  them  no  release. 
The  social  system  involves  them  in  its  meshes, 
either  as  agents  or  victims  of  its  wrong,  irre- 
spective of  their  profession,  their  piety,  or 
their  prayers.  In  the  battle  for  bread,  life  is 
reduced  to  the  lowest  common  denominator, 
capable  of  measuring  all  without  except ior,. 


TO  THE  CHURCH.  17 

For  once  let  us  thank  God,  the  pilgrim  to  the 
delectable  mountains  of  spiritual  safety  can- 
not escape  from  this  City  of  Destruction  with 
his  pack  on  his  back  to  save  his  own  soul. 
He  is  bound  to  the  race  with  unbreakable 
social  bonds.  Every  bite  of  bread  he  eats; 
every  garment  he  wears,  every  coin  that  passes 
thru  his  hand,  as  the  sacrament  of  our  com- 
mon humanity,  is  tainted  with  the  poison  of 
this  system.  And  there  is  no  spiritual  innoc- 
ulation  that  can  render  the  church  member  or 
the  clergy  immune.  They,  too,  are  sinners 
with  us  in  this  social  strife,  and  competitive 
war  of  man  against  man.  And  with  us  they 
must  confess  the  social  guilt,  and  expiate  the 
social  sin. 

3.  Our  third  count  against  Capitalism  is 
that  it  is  inevitably  tyrannous,  and  despotic  in 
its  outcome. 

Given  the  basis  described  in  our  first  criti- 
cism; given  the  competitive  struggle  with  the 
winners  of  the  heavy  prizes  in  the  lead ;  and  the 
out-generaled  and  vanquished  children  of  toil 
now  left  to  fight  one  another  as  unionist  and 
"scab"  for  the  chances  to  labor — chances  now 
in  the  hands  of  the  winners ;  given  this  unjust 
basis  and  inhuman  operation,  and  the  climax 
is  the  most  cruel,  heartless  and  arrogant  des- 
potism that  mankind  has  yet  confronted. 

The  winners  feel  that  they  are  "self-made." 


i8  THE  MESSAGE  OF  SOCIALISM 

They  point  the  losers  to  the  codes  of  business 
success,  which  have  long  since  displaced  the 
ethics  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  They 
tell  the  7,000,000  laborers,  with  an  average 
annual  .wage  of  $380,  to  "save,"  and  they,  too, 
shall  become  millionaires !  There  is  always 
room  at  the  top,  you  know.  There  is  no 
social  responsibility  anywhere.  Neither  Pres- 
ident Roosevelt  and  his  cabinet,  nor  the  digni- 
taries of  the  church,  nor  the  Wall  Street  mon- 
archs  of  trade,  have  any  responsibility  to  see 
that  the  opportunities  to  make  our  living  are 
open  to  the  Working  Class.  The  rule  of  the 
game  is,  "Every  man  for  himself,  and  the 
devil  take  the  hindmost."  This  is  the  un- 
confessed  but  ill-concealed  motto  of  the  "stren- 
uous life"  as  lived  in  the  Competitive  Struggle. 
The  winners  have  climbed  to  victory  over 
prostrate  humanity.  And  shall  they  deal  out 
mercy  when  they  have  full  control  of  the  in- 
dustrial situation?  I  trow  not.  Feudal  lords 
and  southern  slave  holders  might  be  responsi- 
ble for  the  health  and  safety  of  serfs  or  slaves, 
and  here  and  there  individual  capitalists  caught 
in  the  toils  of  Capitalism  may  transcend  the 
system,  and  add  a  10  per  cent  to  wages,  or 
shorten  the  hours  of  labor,  or  provide  some 
extra  benefit  to  an  isolated  group  of  laborers. 
But  the  tyranny  of  this  system  wraps  itself 
about  the  Working  Class  like  the  coils  of  a 


TO  THE  CHURCH*  19 

serpent.  The  system  transcends  the  good  will 
of  individuals.  It  knows  no  individuals.  It 
hears  no  cry  of  poverty  or  pain.  It  sees  no 
human  suffering.  "Things  are  in  the  saddle 
and  ride  mankind."  Steadily  the  game  is 
played.  Steadily  the  chains  and  shackles  of 
an  impersonal  despot  are  placed  on  the  ankles 
of  the  Working  Class. 

Describing  the  relation  of  the  personal  and 
impersonal  factors  in  this  tyranny,  Lawson 
writes  in  his  expose  of  Standard  Oil  as  follows : 
"These  men  (referring  to  just  one  group  of 
Wall  Street  financiers)  to  whose  eyes  I  have 
seen  come  the  tears  for  others'  sufferings,  and 
whose  voices  I  have  heard  grow  husky  in 
recounting  the  woes  of  their  less  fortunate 
brothers — these  men  under  the  spell  of  the 
brutal  code  of  modern  dollar  making  are  con- 
verted into  beasts  of  prey,  and  put  to  shame 
the  denizens  of  the  deep  which  devour  their 
kind  that  they  may  live.  In  the  harness  of 
the  'system'  these  men  knew  no  Sabbath,  no 
God ;  they  had  no  time  to  offer  thanks,  no  care 
for  earthly  or  celestial  being;  from  their  eyes 
no  human  power  could  squeeze  a  tear,  no 
suffering  wring  a  pang  from  their  hearts. 
They  were  immune  to  every  feeling  known  to 
God  or  man.  They  knew  only  dollars." 

Such  a  paragraph  gives  a  hint  of  the  cruel 
and  heartless  tyranny  and  despotism  of  plutoc  • 


20  THE  MESSAGE  OF  SOCIALISM 

racy,  which  now  sits  enthroned  in  our  Ameri- 
can life,  as  the  Competitive  System  comes  to 
its  climax. 

Apostles  of  Christ,  can  you  apologize  for  or 
defend  a  system  which  grows  disgusting  and 
deadly  even  to  its  votaries?  We  Socialists 
ask  you  as  men  who  profess  to  teach  the  truth 
of  Him  who  came  to  proclaim  liberty  to  cap- 
tives and  to  make  men  free,  to  attack  this 
plutocratic  tyranny.  Stand,  not  for  mammon, 
but  for  men.  Plead  the  cause  of  the  people. 
We  invite  the  clergy  and  the  church  to  join 
with  us  in  overthrowing  this  subtle  tyranny 
that  is  sapping  the  foundations  of  constitu- 
tional liberty,  making  Christianity  a  joke,  and 
enslaving  the  working  class  under  the  specious 
promises  and  masks  of  "prosperity." 

The  Program  of  Socialism* 

But  Socialism  comes  not  to  destroy  but  to 
fulfill.  In  the  darkness  on  the  social  horizon, 
Socialism  alone  holds  up  the  beacon  light  to 
the  Working  Class,  and  thru  them  to  the  race. 
That  beacon  light  of  Socialism  is  the  result  of 
the  most  painstaking  study  of  social  and  in- 
dustrial life  that  has  ever  been  given  to  the 
world. 

Written  all  over  the  pages  of  modern  so- 
ciety, so  large  that  any  eye  looking  for  the 
Word  of  God  may  read,  the  Socialist  sees  that 


TO  THE  CHURCH*  21 

Organization  must  take  the  place  of  the  chaos 
and  anarchy  of  competitive  strife,  and  that 
Co-operation  must  supplant  Competition.  The 
Socialist  sees  that  huge  railroads,  immense 
factories  and  our  enormous  industrial  equip- 
ment must  be  owned  by  vast  aggregations  and 
consolidations  of  capital. 

Socialism  therefore  declares  that  this  huge 
industrial  equipment  can  no  longer  be  left 
with  safety  to  mankind  in  the  hands  of  Pri- 
vate Trusts  and  Monopolies,  to  be  adminis- 
tered by  groups  of  Capitalists,  using  the  Co- 
operative principle  and  the  mighty  powers  of 
Organization  for  Private  Profit  to  themselves, 
and  for  the  exploitation  and  enslavement  of 
the  producing  classes. 

The  Socialist  reads  out  of  the  agencies  and 
activities  of  the  present  tyranny  the  truth  that 
shall  make  us  free.  Socialism  therefore  de- 
clares that  the  people  must  proceed  as  rap- 
idly as  votes  can  be  counted  and  law  enacted 
to  transfer  the  basic  industrial  equipment  of 
the  nation  from  private  individuals  and  the 
Capitalist  Class  to  the  nation,  to  the  people, 
to  Social  or  Collective  Ownership,  to  be  organ- 
ized democratically,  and  operated  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  Co-operation. 

This  Socialization  of  Industry  is  the  only 
answer  to  the  cry  of  labor.  It  is  the  hope  of 


22  THE  MESSAGE  OF  SOCIALISM 

the  world.  And  if  the  Church  only  knew  the 
day  of  her  visitation,  this  Socialization  of  In- 
dustry, as  rapidly  as  human  energy  and  zeal 
and  genius  can  accomplish  it,  is  a  veritable 
second  coming  of  Christ.  It  is  at  least  one 
divine  event  toward  which  the  whole  long 
past  has  moved.  If  the  Church  of  America 
could  be  aroused  from  the  hypnotic  spell  of  a 
materialistic,  mammonistic  and  plutocratic  age, 
this  plank  of  the  Socialist  movement — the  So- 
cialization of  Industry — would  sound  like  the 
call  of  God  to  go  up  and  possess  the  land,  and 
to  "bring  my  people  out  of  the  house  of  bond- 
age and  out  of  the  land  of  the  oppressor." 

Our  National  platform  states  our  proposals 
thus:  (i)  "The  Socialist  Party  comes  with 
the  only  proposition  or  program  for  intelli- 
gently and  deliberately  organizing  the  nation 
for  the  common  good  of  all  its  citizens.  It  is 
the  first  time  that  the  mind  of  man  has  ever 
been  directed  toward  a  conscious  organization 
of  society. 

(2)  Socialism  means  that  all  those  things 
upon   which   the   people   in   common    depend 
shall  by  the  people  in  common  be  owned  and 
administered. 

(3)  Socialism  means  that  the  tools  of  em- 
ployment  shall   belong  to  the    creators    and 
users,   that   all    production    shall    be    for   the 
direct  use  of  the  producers,  that  the  making 


TO  THE  CHURCH.  23 

of  goods  for  profit  shall  come  to  an  end ;  that 
we  shall  be  all  workers  together,  and  that  all 
opportunities  shall  be  open  and  equal  to  all 
men." 

I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  this  is  the  only 
platform  in  America  that  has  the  purpose  of 
Christ  writ  large  in  an  economic  program. 
Nor  do  I  hesitate  to  say  that  this  is  the  only 
platform  that  an  apostle  or  a  disciple  of  Christ 
can  consistently  vote  for. 

The  message  of  Socialism  to  the  church  is 
therefore  a  summons  to  spurn  all  policies  and 
platforms  of  parties  defending  and  supporting 
the  present  system,  and  to  vote  for  the  Social- 
ist movement,  its  platform  and  its  candidates. 

Right  here  I  should  correct  two  crude  objec- 
tions that  ignorance  and  prejudice  have  raised 
against  Socialism.  First,  it  is  said  that  we 
would  attack  private  property.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  is  Capitalism  that  has  left  one-half  of 
our  population  absolutely  propertyless,  which 
is  attacking  private  property.  It  is  in  the  inter- 
ests of  private  property,  the  result  of  honest 
toil,  for  personal  use  and  enjoyment,  but  never 
for  the  exploitation  of  others,  that  we  demand 
the  social  ownership  of  the  means  of  production 
and  distribution. 

This  phase  of  the  question  is  clearly  treated 
in  the  National  Platform  of  the  Socialist  Party 
in  the  two  following  paragraphs : 


24  THE  MESSAGE  OF  SOCIALISM 

"Capitalism  is  the  enemy  and  destroyer  of 
essential  private  property.  Its  development  is 
through  the  legalized  confiscation  of  all  that 
the  labor  of  the  working  class  produces,  above 
its  subsistence-wage.  The  private  ownership 
of  the  means  of  employment  grounds  society 
in  an  economic  slavery  which  renders  intellec- 
tual and  political  tyranny  inevitable." 

"Socialism  comes  so  to  organize  industry 
and  society  that  every  individual  shall  be  secure 
in  that  private  property  in  the  means  of  life 
upon  which  his  liberty  of  being,  thought  and 
action  depend.  It  comes  to  rescue  the  people 
from  the  fast  increasing  and  successful  assault 
of  Capitalism  upon  the  liberty  of  the  individ- 
ual." 

Second  objection:  It  is  claimed  that  we 
propose  to  take  from  the  Capitalist  Class  by 
force  what  they  have  so  ruthlessly  secured  by 
the  schemes  and  practices  and  policies  of  this 
system.  Concerning  this  objection  I  will  quote 
to  you  from  three  of  our  standard  authori- 
ties. 

Kautsky,  the  noted  German  Socialist,  of  the 
most  radical  wing,  says :  "There  are  a  num- 
ber of  reasons  which  indicate  that  a  working 
class  regime  will  seek  the  road  of  compensa- 
tion and  payment  of  the  Capitalist  Class  in  the 
Socialization  of  capitalist  industry." 

And  Engels,  in  1894,  wrote:     "We  do  not 


TO  THE  CHURCH*  25 

at  all  consider  the  indemnification  of  the  pro- 
prietors as  an  impossibility,  whatever  may  be 
the  circumstances.  How  many  times  has  not 
Karl  Marx  (the  great  authority)  expressed  to 
me  the  opinion  that  if  we  could  buy  up  the 
whole  crowd,  it  would  really  be  the  cheapest 
way  of  relieving  ourselves  of  them." 

"Expropriation  without  indemnity,"  says 
Vanderwelde,  a  leader  in  the  Belgian  Socialist 
movement,  "with  the  resistance,  the  troubles, 
the  bloody  disturbances  which  it  would  not 
fail  to  produce,  would  be  in  the  end  the  most 
costly." 

Program  of  Amelioration* 

Returning  now  to  the  program  of  the  Social- 
ist Party.  If  the  proposition  of  the  Socializa- 
tion of  Industry  seems  vague  to  men  who  are 
trained  to  deal  with  principles  as  well  as  with 
concrete  practice,  let  me  point  you  to  the 
program  of  amelioration  which  Socialism  pre- 
sents to  the  Working  Class  under  the  present 
injustice  and  wrongs  of  Capitalism. 

Here  are  some  planks  of  amelioration  which 
as  keen  men  you  will  observe  were  not  dic- 
tated by  Wall  Street  politicians,  but  were  read 
out  of  the  sufferings  and  struggles  of  the 
Working  Class  in  their  unceasing  conflict  with 
Capitalism : 

"To  the  end  that  the  workers  may   seize 


26  THE  MESSAGE  OF  SOCIALISM 

every  possible  advantage  that  may  strengthen 
them  to  gain  complete  control  of  the  powers 
of  government,  and  thereby  the  sooner  estab- 
lish the  Co-operative  Commonwealth,  the  So- 
cialist Party  pledges  itself  to  watch  and  work  in 
both  the  economic  and  the  political  struggle 
for  each  successive  immediate  interest  of  the 
working  class : 

1.  For   shortened   days   of  labor   and   in- 
crease of  wages. 

2.  For  the  insurance  of  workers  against 
accident,  sickness  and  lack  of  employment. 

3.  For  pensions   for  aged  and  exhausted 
workers. 

4.  For  the  public  ownership  of  the  means 
of    transportation,    communication     and     ex- 
change. 

5.  For  the  graduated  taxation  of  incomes, 
inheritances,   franchises  and  land  values,  the 
proceeds  to  be  applied  to  the  public  employ- 
ment and  improvement  of  the  conditions  of  the 
workers. 

6.  For  the  complete  education  of  children 
and  their  freedom  from  the  workshop. 

7.  For  the  equal   suffrage    of    men    and 
women. 

8.  For  the  prevention  of  the  use  of  the 
military   against    labor   in    the   settlement    of 
strikes. 

9.  For  the  free  administration  of  justice. 

10.  For  popular  government,  including  in- 
itiative,  referendum,   proportional   representa- 


TO  THE  CHURCH.  27 

tion,  equal  suffrage  and  municipal  home  rule, 
and  the  recall  of  officers  by  their  constitu- 
ents. 

11.  And  for  every  gain  or  advantage  for 
the  workers  that  may  be  wrested  from  the 
capitalist   system,   and   that   may   relieve   the 
suffering  and  strengthen  the  hands  of  labor. 
We  lay  upon  every  man  elected  to  any  execu- 
tive or  legislative  office  the  first  duty  of  striv- 
ing to  procure  whatever  is  for  the  workers' 
most  immediate  interest,  and  for  whatever  will 
lessen  the  economic  and  political  powers  of  the 
capitalist,  and  increase  the  like  powers  of  the 
worker. 

12.  But,  in  so  doing,  we  are  using  these 
remedial  measures  as  means  to  the  one  great 
end  of  the  Co-operative  Commonwealth.    Such 
measures  of  relief  as  we  may  be  able  to  force 
from  Capitalism  are  but  a  preparation  of  the 
workers  to  seize  the  whole  powers  of  govern- 
ment, in  order  that  they  may  thereby  lay  hold 
of  the   whole  system  of  industry,   and  thus 
come  into  their  rightful  inheritance." 

I  challenge  the  moral  and  spiritual  teachers 
of  America  to  duplicate  the  Socialist  Platform 
in  any  other  platform  ever  written  in  Ameri- 
can politics.  Here  is  a  philanthropy  that  is 
not  the  price  of  blood.  Here  is  a  humanitar- 
ianism  that  smacks  not  of  vainglorious  char- 
ity. If  the  church  really  means  to  abolish  the 


28  THE  MESSAGE  OF  SOCIALISM 

sufferings  of  mankind,  here  is  a  program  be- 
fore you  which  we  could  not  dishonor  by 
even  comparing  it  with  that  of  any  other 
political  party. 

The  effect  of  the  Socialist  Movement,  even 
in  its  minority,  is  thus  exalted  by  one  of  our 
opponents  and  critics,  Max  Nordau.  After 
speaking  of  the  dreams  and  absurdities  in  the 
Socialist  propaganda,  he  says :  "Whatever  is 
absurd  in  Socialism  will  remain  an  empty 
word,  and  will  be  either  interpreted  as  sym- 
bolical or  simply  allowed  to  drop  into  oblivion. 
It  will,  however,  act  as  an  impulse  and  force, 
and  bring  about  better  conditions  of  life  among 
mankind.  This  one  can  safely  prophesy;  for, 
in  spite  of  its  theoretical  absurdity,  Socialism 
has  already  in  thirty  years  wrought  greater 
ameliorations  than  all  the  wisdom  of  states- 
men and  philosophers  of  thousands  of  years." 
Surely  this  from  a  critic  is  a  remarkable  trib- 
ute, and  if  the  mere  propaganda  of  Socialism, 
with  occasional  political  triumphs,  has  already 
had  such  a  powerful  effect  in  ameliorating  the 
conditions  of  the  Working  Class,  what  may 
we  expect  when  the  Sleeping  Giant  of  Labor 
arises  and  inaugurates  the  full  program  of 
human  emancipation! 

That  noble  American  woman,  Frances  Wil- 
lard,  declared  her  faith  in  Socialism  before  her 
death,  and  in  her  terse  and  beautiful  language 


TO  THE  CHURCH.  29 

states  the  spiritual  significance  of  our  move- 
ment in  the  following  words: 

"I  believe  that  COMPETITION  is  DOOMED. 
WHAT  THE  SOCIAISTS  DESIRE  is  THAT  THE 

CORPORATION      OF      HUMANITY      SHOULD     CON- 
TROL ALL  PRODUCTION. 

"Beloved  comrades,  this  is  the  frictionless 
way;  it  is  the  higher  way;  it  eliminates  the 
motive  for  a  selfish  life;  it  enacts  into  our 
everyday  living  the  ethics  of  Christ's  gospel. 
Nothing  else  will  do  it;  nothing  else  can  bring 
the  glad  day  of  universal  brotherhood.  THE 

REASON  WHY  I  AM  A  SOCIALIST  IS  JUST  HERE. 

"Oh,  that  I  were  young  again,  and  it  would 
have  my  life !  It  is  God's  way  out  of  the  wil- 
derness and  into  the  promised  land.  It  is  the 
very  marrow  and  fatness  of  Christ's  gospel. 
It  is  Christianity  applied." 

I  have  but  outlined  the  Socialist  criticism 
of  Capitalism,  and  presented  with  but  little 
elaboration  the  Socialist  program  of  emancipa- 
tion of  the  workers  and  of  the  race. 

In  conclusion,  I  do  not  ask  you,  as  minis- 
ters of  Christ  to  abate  your  efforts  for  indi- 
vidual salvation  in  the  smallest  degree.  I  do 
not  attack  your  theology,  nor  your  ethics,  nor 
philosophy.  But  I  charge  you  to  see  that  the 
quality  of  individual  salvation  shall  be  that  of 
Jesus  rather  than  that  of  Judas ;  that  professed 
spirituality  of  character  and  discipleship  to 


30  THE  MESSAGE  OF  SOCIALISM 

Christ  either  on  the  part  of  yourselves  or  your 
adherents  shall  not  be  found  bulwarking, 
either  by  open  defense,  or  by  that  silence  which 
gives  consent,  either  by  your  voice  or  your 
vote,  a  system  which  stands  as  the  supreme 
Anti-Christ  of  modern  civilization. 

I  charge  you,  in  the  name  of  humanity,  to 
dedicate  your  talents  and  your  lives  to  the  so- 
cial and  economic  freedom  of  mankind  thru 
the  establishment  of  the  Co-operative  Com- 
monwealth. 

Methinks  that  if  the  gentle  but  mighty  Car- 
penter of  Judea  were  with  us  on  earth  in  this 
great  crisis,  he  would  be  found  not  with  the 
oppressor,  but  with  the  oppressed,  ready  again 
to  lay  down  his  life  for  the  sheep,  to  work 
with  the  agencies  at  hand  to  establish  this 
next  step  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  the  King- 
dom of  Justice  and  Brotherhood  in  the  Earth. 

Let  his  apostles  and  disciples  follow ! 

The  first  edition  of  this  pamphlet  was 
quickly  exhausted.  The  sixteenth  thousand  is 
now  off  the  press.  At  the  close  of  this  second 
edition  I  wish  to  state  again  some  convictions 
of  my  heart : 

The  only  meaning  of  human  history  is  the 
coming  of  a  state  of  justice,  brotherhood  and 
human  comradeship,  which  Jesus  called  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  upon  the  earth. 

The  quality  of  life  which  was  manifest  in 


TO  THE  CHURCH.  31 

Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  the  ultimate  quality  of 
life  for  the  individual.  It  is  the  goal  of  moral 
and  spiritual  evolution  for  the  person. 

The  essence  of  that  quality  of  life  is  the 
spirit  of  absolute  self-renunciation  on  the  altar 
of  the  human  life  of  the  whole — the  de-person- 
alization of  the  ego-life,  and  the  incarnation  of 
the  social  mind  and  social  conscience  and  cos- 
mic spirit. 

This  quality  of  life  is  not  mere  religiousness, 
nor  sentimentality,  but  is  the  love-life,  the  com- 
rade-life, the  escape  from  the  nightmare  of 
selfishness,  consequent  on  the  highest  philo- 
sophical perception  of  the  Unity  of  Being,  the 
actual  Solidarity  of  Humanity,  and  the  No- 
thing-ness of  the  merely  limited  ego-life. 
****** 

The  present  capitalist  system  is  the  Anti- 
Christ  of  our  times— the  present  social,  politi- 
cal and  economic  negation  and  antithesis  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  Capitalist  system  is  Anti-Christ  to  the 
individual,  functioning  firmly  the  personal,  pri- 
vate, limited,  ego,  self-life,  in  the  pursuit  of 
private  personal  ends. 

This  inevitable  necessity  forced  by  Capital- 
ism on  the  human  individual  to  seek  his  pri- 
vate property  ends  in  the  cruel  and  unnecessary 
struggle  for  existence,  crucifies  the  Christ-life, 
stifles  the  love-life  of  the  soul,  and  makes  all 


religion  a  pharasaism — a  Caiaphas  to  Herod. 

The  Capitalist  system  stands  impeached  b> 
the  highest  spiritual  insight  of  the  race,  as  a 
system  of  legalized  plunder  of  the  people,  in- 
carnating the  Cain-spirit,  and  for  a  time  still 
unconsciously  defended  by  those  who  histori- 
cally bear  the  name  of  Christ. 

Capitalism  denies  the  first  fundamental  right 
of  human  existence — that  is,  equality  of  op- 
portunity in  the  use  of  the  basic  equipment  of 
bread-getting — economic  equality. 

Capitalism,  therefore,  by  forcing  men  to  an- 
tagonism and  strife,  victory  and  defeat,  mo- 
nopoly and  poverty,  in  bread-getting,  denies 
to  men  the  last  highest  joy  of  existence — com- 
radeship, fellowship,  brotherhood,  love. 

But  the  Christ  mission  cannot  be  realized 
except  by  the  overthrow  of  Capitalism  and 
the  inauguration  of  Capitalism. 

And  the  Christ  mind  and  spirit  cannot  func- 
tion in  defenders  of  Capitalism,  but  will  find 
its  incarnation  in  a  new  race  of  spiritual  he- 
roes— a  new  Messianic  movement — which  is 
already  at  hand. 

The  call  of  the  cross  today  is  to  the  hero- 
soul  of  the  Christ-consciousness  in  the  individ- 
ual to  incarnate  protest  against  the  Capitalist 
system,  and  to  incarnate  the  concept  and  spirit 
of  the  democratic  organization  of  industry — 
the  next  step  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the 
earth — the  Socialist  Commonwealth — J.  S.  W. 


RETURN     CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 

202  Main  Library  "445! 


LOAN  PERIOD  1 
HOME  USE 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

.--  .      .      VKD  V-CH/-.R(;ES  MAY  BE  MADE  4  DAYS  PI 

(j^  r-^MlOO-.  AHE  i-WONTH,  3-MONTHS,  AND  1-YEA8- 
Ei^Ev^ALS-  CALL  (415)  642-3405 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


INTERLIBRARYLO 

IN 

NfiV  '  2  199 

) 

UNIV.OFCAIIF  Rf 

RK 

SENT  ON  U. 

AU6  5  1  m 

U.C.  BERKFf.P 

SENT  ON  ILL 

NOV  0  8  894 

U.  C.  BERKELEY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
ORM  NO.  DD6,  60m,  1/83           BERKELEY,  CA  94720 

®s 
^IV^^L^            •    ~~r^9Ml^^l4UL*<A  ^^  ^BB^1™1  W         ^BB 

2513 


4 


BERKELEY  LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


